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Haryana chief secretary proposes lockdown in Gurugram, Faridabad, govt not keen
After contemplating to impose a week-long lockdown in pandemic-hit Gurugram and Faridabad districts, the Haryana government on Friday stopped short of taking the restrictive measure to stop the spread of coronavirus
After contemplating to impose a week-long lockdown in pandemic-hit Gurugram and Faridabad districts, the Haryana government on Friday stopped short of taking the restrictive measure to stop the spread of coronavirus.
The two NCR districts bordering Delhi account for 43% of the total active cases in state and are classified in critical category for having a positivity rate of over 6%.
Proposing a week-long lockdown in both districts, Haryana chief secretary Vijai Vardhan on Friday, in a communication to state health minister Anil Vij, highlighted the alarming projection with regard to active cases and hospitalisation capacity in both districts.
Vardhan wrote that if the cases continued to spread at the existing rate, he anticipated that in a week Gurugram will be experiencing an addition of 8,000-10,000 new cases and the number of active cases may go up to 30,000 to 50,000.
Vij, however, said that as of now there is no decision to impose lockdown. “It is alright for officials to express their views, but the state government has to take the final decision,” he said.
Citing data analysis done by the integrated disease surveillance programme (IDSP) of the health department regarding Gurugram, the chief secretary wrote that 20% of the total active cases need hospitalisation, 10-15% need oxygen support, and 3% need ventilator support.
“As per current growth rate, about 3,000-5,000 beds with oxygen support will be needed in Gurugram a week from now,” the chief secretary wrote.
The chief secretary underlined that medical infrastructure in Gurugram is under tremendous strain and will be unable to cope with any significant addition of patients.
As per the Gurugram administration, there is an acute shortage of paramedical staff in private hospitals of Gurugram and doctors are overworked, suffering from extreme fatigue. All intensive care beds are fully occupied.
About 36% of total 9,742 cases reported from across state on April 22 are from Gurugram. The number of new and active cases in Faridabad during the last four weeks is also showing an alarming trend.
“On April 8, Gurugram reported 741 new cases which got doubled to 1,434 by on April 15, and on April 22 the infection more than doubled to 3,553 cases,” the communication said.
In Faridabad, 108 infections were reported on April 1 which more than doubled to 378 on April 8. The number more than doubled to 810 infections reported by April 15 and rose to 1,342 cases on April 22, as per the health department statistics.
“In view of these facts, it is proposed that the state government may impose a week-long lockdown in Gurugram and Faridabad so as to slow down the pace of infection,” the chief secretary wrote.
Top officials said that the state government is not keen on imposing a lockdown without making preparations to ensure that people, including migrant labourers, are not inconvenienced.
“Another aspect is the economy. Lockdown like last year would mean shutting down manufacturing units and enterprise in both districts,” said an official.
