Programme aims at identifying, testing symptomatic people living in containment zones, densely packed areas; number of containment zones rises to 4,550
Amid a surge in coronavirus cases in Delhi, a door-to-door survey for identifying and testing people symptomatic for Covid-19 in containment and densely packed areas of the city commenced on Friday with the number of containment zones going up to over 4,550 in the national Capital, with the maximum 743 in southwest district and the lowest 148 in northeast district.
According to official data, six districts out of the total 11 have more than 400 Covid-19 containment zones — 743 (southwest), 705 (south), 587 (west), 543 (southeast), 490 (central Delhi) and 445 (northwest). The survey will be completed within five days and will cover over 57 lakh people in containment zones, dense areas and identified clusters of virus transmission, officials said.
Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain told reporters that the survey is aimed at identifying and testing symptomatic people living in containment zones and densely packed areas.
District officials said all the containment zones and super spreader areas are being covered through teams including teachers, municipal corporation staff, Asha workers and civil defence volunteers.
“All protocols will be followed to test all symptomatic persons. The survey will be completed within 5 days,” said a district magistrate. Following a meeting between Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, it was decided that the survey in the city will be conducted by teams of AIIMS, the Delhi Government and municipal corporations, and all the symptomatic people found in the survey would be tested and provided necessary treatment.
Around 9,500 surveillance teams have been constituted and deployed for conducting a door-to-door survey. Each team has a target to survey 50 households every day, officials added.
The national Capital has witnessed a surge in coronavirus cases since October 28, when the daily rise breached the 5,000-mark for the first time, and it crossed the 8,000-mark on November 11.
On Wednesday, the infection tally in Delhi rose to over 5 lakh with 7,486 fresh cases reported, while 131 new fatalities, the highest single-day death count till date, took the toll to 7,943.
In a containment zone summary as on November 19, the revenue department said there were 4,560 such zones in the city. While New Delhi and Shahdara districts have 264 and 249 containment zones respectively, there are 202 such zones in north Delhi.
The department said east Delhi has 184 Covid-19 containment zones, but northeast district has only 148 zones. Meanwhile, a door-to-door survey for identifying and testing people symptomatic for coronavirus in containment and densely packed areas of the city commenced on Friday.
The survey will be completed within five days and will cover over 57 lakh people in containment zones, dense areas and identified clusters of virus transmission, officials said.
As many as 7,546 fresh Covid-19 cases were reported on Thursday, taking the infection tally to over 5.1 lakh while 98 more fatalities pushed the toll to 8,041.
On Thursday, the AAP Government announced sweeping measures including a steep Rs 2,000 fine for not wearing masks, reservation of 80 per cent ICU beds in private hospitals, doubling testing centres in every district and postponement of non-critical surgeries at health facilities.
The Union Health Ministry on Thursday said Delhi accounted for 22.39 per cent of the fatalities reported across the country in a span of 24 hours by recording 131 deaths on Wednesday and became the largest contributor to the single-day COVID-19 deaths in India.
Saturday, 21 November 2020 | Staff Reporter | New Delhi
