Early Economic Recovery Possible - Ensure Strict Zoning & Compartmentalization

Concepts of Animal Bio-security can help in Lifting COVID-19 Lock-down Globally 

By:

Vijay Sardana

Follow Zoning and Compartmentalization to control the spread and revive economic activities.

As an adviser to the Poultry Sector and close working experience on livestock sector and trade issues concerning food safety and bio-security. I can assure you the concepts of Zoning and Compartmentalization can help in lifting lock-down in the country, provided we all work together to stabilize cases in different locations.

Let me tell you, many villages where people understand the role of bio-security in poultry business is already practicing it. These villages are safe. Cities must learn from the villages how to cordons of themselves for their safety.

How it will work on the ground in India?

If no new cases are coming in any state or district, then that state or the district can be cordoned off and no one should be allowed to go in without testing. That district or state can go back to the normal life, of course with due preventive care and precautions. The only criteria should be, that there is no emergence of new corona-virus cases in that area in the last one week. This can happen only when medical authorities are sure that they have tested all possible suspected cases and cleared them.

This also does not mean that workers can come from all over India to work and free movement of transport services and trucks can start. Zoning and Compartmentalization can be successful only if there is a control of cross-contamination and people stick to the discipline. All stakeholders, industries, traders and commercial interest must control the movement of goods from infected places to the non-infected places. The bio-security concerns and measures cannot be compromised at any cost. Nothing is more important than Human life.

How this will help?

The purpose is to use the principles of zoning and compartmentalization to control to spread of corona-virus and maintain different sub-populations with specific health status within the territory of the state or district.

This will help us in establishing and maintaining a disease-free status throughout the country. Corona-virus disease prevention or control can be achieved by this. Sub-populations may be separated by natural or artificial geographical barriers or by the application of appropriate bio-security management.

While zoning applies to an animal sub-population defined primarily on a geographical basis, compartmentalization applies to an animal sub-population defined primarily by management and husbandry practices related to bio-security. The same can be applied for a human population with the help of district and state governments.

In practice, distance and space considerations and appropriate management, including bio-security plans, play important roles in the application of both concepts in controlling the infection and disease.

What will be the benefit to the administration?

Zoning may encourage the more efficient use of resources, within certain parts of a country. Compartmentalization may allow the functional separation, of a sub-population from other people through bio-security, which would not be achieved through geographical separation.

In a country where a disease is endemic, the establishment of free zones may assist in the progressive control and eradication of the disease. To facilitate disease control and the continuation of trade following a disease outbreak in a previously free state or zone, zoning may allow a state or district to limit the extension of the disease to a defined restricted area while preserving the status of the remaining territory.

For the same reasons, the use of compartmentalization may allow a state or district to take advantage of epidemiological links among sub-populations or common practices relating to bio-security, despite diverse geographical locations.

Map of the state may look like this: Red area can be declared as diseases free zone.

A state or district may thus have more than one zone or compartment within its territory. Union and state governments must create a joint working team of veterinary doctors and medical doctors to work out the district wise plan. This district wise dynamic plan can change every week based on the ground-level data on case and incidences.

How it can work on ground?

If there are no fresh cases in Kashmir or North-east or any district of any of the state that state or district or part of the district can be declared as disease free zone and all restrictions to check cross contamination will apply. Only then normal life or local activities can start. Standard Operating Producers and proper instruction sheets should be developed before declaring any area as disease free. All approvals must come from the highest authority to avoid any local level gaps in enforcement.

Power of Partnership is the only way forward 

Medical science can learn a lot from veterinary science in many cases. They should extend due respect to fellow veterinary science and veterinary practitioners. Veterinarians are doing a great job in every society by ensuring good health and good food for humans. This partnership between man and animal sciences will be useful for society. Example: One small leakage of animal virus i.e. corona-virus into the human system can create a pandemic. This can be handled with effective partnership only.

Thus, in the long run intervention from states on case to case basis, proper policy and implementation of zoning and compartmentalization, continuous review and monitoring and sharing of information and knowledge in life sciences will only prove to be fruitful to regain normalcy across the globe.

If author can be of any help, please feel free to connect.

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