Pickle panic: Telangana village in fear as pickle-maker, distributor get COVID-19

A village sarpanch's decision in Telangana to distribute traditional mango pickle (pachadi) to several needy amid the pandemic has left hundreds of villagers in fear as the pickle-maker, along with another person, have tested positive for coronavirus. 

Earlier in May, the husband of the Kollur sarpanch in Mahbubnagar and his relative hired a local pickle-maker in Shadnagar to prepare a quintal of pickle for distribution.

On May 19, the mango pickle was prepared and distributed to over 10 families. The remaining pickle was stored before distributing to a few others. 

Two days later, the sarpanch's relative, who is a trader and had been in close proximity to the pickle-maker, had tested positive for coronavirus on May 22 at the Gandhi Hospital after developing symptoms. The following day, the pickle-maker too developed symptoms and tested positive for coronavirus.

With the sarpanch’s relative and the pickle-maker testing positive for the virus, villagers went into panic-mode and alerted medical officials, demanding immediate containment measures.

According to Nawabpet Mandal Medical Officer Dr Vijaya Laxmi, people fear a possible spread of the virus in the village through people who have consumed the pickle and those who participated in the distribution activity.

Speaking to TNM, the Medical Officer said, “We have kept at least 14 persons in home quarantine. Daily twice they are being screened for any influenza like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) symptoms. So far, everyone is doing good. There will be continuous observation.”

Speaking about the possible source of infection of the two persons said, the doctor said, “The infection seems to have happened to the pickle-maker, as he is said to have gone to Jiyaguda in Hyderabad a few times where there were cases of COVID-19.”

However, the distributed pickles were discarded by locals and a disinfection drive has also taken place in the village. 

Speaking to TNM, Dr Krishna Rao, District Medical and Health Officer (DM&HO) said, “After  two men tested positive for the coronavirus, there were some fears among the people about infection. There is no need to be afraid, concerned officers on the ground are taking necessary measures.