58, including 45-day-old, test Covid positive in 2 clusters in Delhi

Coronavirus has so far infected 2,376 people in Delhi; 50 of them have died and 808 have recovered.

New Delhi: Fifty-eight people, including a 45-day-old child -- nearly half of the 128 Covid-19 cases reported in Delhi on Thursday -- were from two clusters in Jahangirpuri and Jama Masjid, according to the latest Delhi government data.

An aerial view of Jama Masjid. Certain parts of the old Delhi neighbourhood have been declared containment zones. (Biplov Bhuyan/HT PHOTO)

The contagious disease has so far infected 2,376 people in Delhi; 50 of them have died and 808 have recovered.

Officials said 46 of the new cases were members of different families in Jahangirpuri, and 12 from Chooriwalan in Jama Masjid. Different places in both the areas have already been demarcated as containment, or red, zones. With three new containment zones announced on Thursday, the total number of such areas in the city -- where there is a hard lockdown in place with a ban on movement and home-delivery of essential supplies by the administration -- has reached 92.

According to district administration officials, in the Jama Masjid case, the positive cases belonged to two families, including the 45-day-old child, from Chooriwalan. The infant, and three people who have underlying health issues such as diabetes, hypertension and chronic kidney disease, were admitted to the dedicated Covid-19 Lok Nayak hospital. The rest of the people have been admitted to Covid Care Centres, which look after patients with mild to moderate symptoms.

District officials in Jahangirpuri said the 46 people come from about 10 families in H-block and all of them have been shifted to the quarantine facility in Narela. They also said that contract tracing exercise has begun and other members of the positive people have been asked to remain in home quarantine.

Officials who are tracing contacts for positive people from Jama Masjid said one of them has a history of travel to Russia, before India imposed a complete ban on international travel on March 22. Russia has so far reported 62,773 cases and 555 deaths linked to Covid-19.

“We are still investigating the source of the infection,” said Shrivastava. “This lane is already within a containment zone but we will declare it a micro-containment zone, and carry out all the measures aggressively.”

District officials in Jahangirpuri also suggested micro-containment of the area since three lanes of the H-block (H1, H2 and H3) were declared as containment zones on April 14 after a Covid-19 positive case was reported there.

“Samples of residents of these areas were collected earlier this week after a house-to-house survey. The test report of residents was released on Wednesday evening in which 46 were found Covid-19 positive,” Jahangirpuri councillor Poonam Bagri said.

An official of the district administration, requesting anonymity, said that with more cluster cases emerging, vigilance and preventive measures in the area have been stepped up. “The area will now be monitored on micro level. Intensive sanitisation activities have been started in the area,” the official said.

JC Passey, director, Lok Nayak hospital, said: “Only one the family members apart from the baby needed to be admitted here, but we admitted two others who had some co-morbid conditions. The others have been referred to Covid Care Centres.”

He played down reports of the family having an altercation with the doctors when they reached there for admission on Wednesday night.

“The government has now decided that only the category III patients – who either have severe symptoms or are a at a high risk of developing such symptoms – will be admitted to the hospital. There are five levels (four excluding the dedicated hospitals) of facilities right now – the Covid testing centres where samples are collected; the isolation centres are there for those waiting for their results; Covid Care Centres in government flats etc. admit those with mild symptoms; and the Covid health centres admit those with moderate symptoms,” said Passey.