By Amrit Prasad Paudel, Myagdi, May 27: The second wave of COVID-19 has hard-hit Myagdi, a Himalayan district, as the cases have started reaching the villages like in headquarters.

Similar to other districts across the country, most of the COVID-19 patients here are also in home isolation seeking medical attention and support.

In such a scenario, the local level representatives across the district have started reaching the public by arriving at their doors and inquiring about their condition due to the pandemic and the restriction orders.

In the past few days, locals informed that they were happy to feel the presence of the elected representatives.

Vice-chairperson Srijana KC of Mangala Rural Municipality starts her day by inquiring about the situation of the neighbors and visits other places under jurisdiction; she even collects information through other elected representatives.

She visits the people with Mangala’s Health Division Chief Lekhnath Roka and others. The team conducts a diagnosis of the patients in home isolation and even carries medicines for chronic diseases to provide them to the patients.

There are 66 active cases recently in Mangala. Representatives on the premises with health personnel have also uplifted the morale to fight against the pandemic, said the locals and COVID-19 infected individuals at home isolation.

Chairperson Thamsara Pun of Dhaulagiri Rural Municipality-led team had visited several houses under its jurisdiction and inquired about the health condition of infected patients.

Similarly, the team also collected swab samples of several individuals for the COVID-19 test based upon their health condition. Until Monday night, Dhaulagiri had 29 active cases while 40 have already recovered during the second wave.

“It is our responsibility as elected representatives that we help our people and in times of pandemic, our responsibility expands. So we have started visiting our people by reaching their homes with a medical team,” said Kharmaya Bitalu, vice-chariperson of Malika Rural Municipality.

There have been 93 positive cases in Malika among which 11 have recovered. The representatives have also been providing necessary medicines, which they carry, to the people based upon the diagnosis and prescription by the medical team.

“The chief of the local levels, including our chairperson Bhav Bahadur Bhandari, are themselves most active in the recent times to help our people fight and beat the virus. It has generated energy in others,” said Chief Administrative Officer Amrit Subedi of Raghuganga Rural Municipality; which has 101 active cases.

Similarly, the chiefs of the respective local levels have directed all the other elected representatives, from ward chairmen to ward members, to reach out to the people and help them tackle the difficulties they are facing.

“All elected members have even been directed to be able to rescue an individual to a health centre at the earliest, if needed,” said Chairperson Dam Bahadur Purja of Annapurna Rural Municipality. There are 147 active cases in home isolation in Annapurna.

In the case of Beni Municipality, the district headquarters, the representatives are busy visiting cases in home isolation followed by managing resources for the district hospital which is treating critical cases. The local representatives are also providing necessary food items and medicines to the public affected by the restriction order.

“We have spent around Rs. 700,000 for institutional isolation. We are also regularly being updated about the health situation of people and standby to manage necessary resources when needed,” said Ram Krishna Baraili, spokesperson of Beni Municipality.

As per the municipality’s health division, 665 individuals have tested positive during the second wave. Currently, there are 119 active cases in home isolation and five are receiving treatment at hospitals.

The locals are happy with the support of the representatives. Nevertheless, they have requested authorities to also focus on preparing proper health institutions for a long-term purposes.