E-Paper
Delhi: In 25 days, containment zones in city rose from 205 to 24,000
The spurt in the number of containment zones has come amid a spiralling fifth wave of infections for the city, which has seen the daily case load hit record levels in Delhi, pushed by the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus
The number of Covid-19 red zones sealed by the city’s district administrations has jumped from just over 200 on December 20 to nearly 24,000 in fewer than 25 days, showed data from the state government, as authorities work to cut off channels of spread between infected and uninfected residents in Delhi.
The spurt in the number of such sealed areas, known as containment zones, has come amid a spiralling fifth wave of infections for the city, which has seen the daily case load hit record levels in Delhi, pushed by the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
On December 20, Delhi reported a test positivity rate of 0.20%, with 531 active cases in the city. On Thursday, over 29% of all collected samples returned positive results, with 94,160 patients battling Covid-19.
The number of Covid-19 red zones sealed by the city’s district administrations has jumped from just over 200 on December 20 to nearly 24,000 in fewer than 25 days, showed data from the state government, as authorities work to cut off channels of spread between infected and uninfected residents in Delhi.
The spurt in the number of such sealed areas, known as containment zones, has come amid a spiralling fifth wave of infections for the city, which has seen the daily case load hit record levels in Delhi, pushed by the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
On December 20, Delhi reported a test positivity rate of 0.20%, with 531 active cases in the city. On Thursday, over 29% of all collected samples returned positive results, with 94,160 patients battling Covid-19.
Containment zones are sealed premises or areas that are essentially under a hard lockdown for a certain period, and are placed under increased surveillance by district teams. Essential goods are delivered to doorsteps, and these areas can be de-notified only if no new cases are added for 14 days.
To be sure, all of the sealed zones in Delhi encompass no more than a few flats, in accordance with the state’s micro containment policy, as compared to the early days of the pandemic, when entire areas or lanes were shut.
As on January 12, 47,264 of the city’s active cases were in containment zones, while 40,714 patients were outside these sealed zones.
Most of the containment zones in Delhi were concentrated in South district, where 8,383 such hot spots were sealed, as on January, data showed.
West district, spread across Patel Nagar, Punjabi Bagh, Rajouri Garden and nearby areas, follows South district with 4,109 containment zones. New Delhi district, which covers Chankyapuri, Vasant Vihar and the Delhi Cantonment area, has 2,354 containment zones and Central district has 3,493 such spots.
North Delhi district - which encompasses Narela, Model Town, Alipur and nearby areas - has 1,386 containment zones.
A South district official said, “Many containment zones have only one Covid-19 patient. Such zones have been created on the discretion of the local authorities to ensure that those loving nearby are safe,” said the official.
A containment zone is unsealed 14 days after it was marked, if all patients within it have recovered by them.
“Even though the central government has decided that the home isolation period for Covid patients with mild or no symptoms will be seven days, there is no change in de-containment strategy,” said a state official.
Densely populated districts in Delhi have very few containment zones so far, the data showed.
North-East Delhi, one of the Capital’s most densely populated districts, covering Karawal Nagar, Yamuna Vihar, Seelampur and other areas, had only 279 containment zones as of January 12. East district, which has Gandhi Nagar, Mayur Vihar and Preet Vihar and other areas under it, has 151 containment zones.
A North-East district official said the administration’s isolation practises had helped it minimise the number of containment zones.
A South-East district official said a containment zone is usually created when there are three or more Covid-positive cases.
“The flat, house or floor is sealed after a positive case is detected and the patient fulfils the criterion for home isolation, such as not having comorbidities, and the house having sufficient space for isolation,” the official said.
In many cases, however, a containment zone is marked out only when one case is detected, if local authorities assess that such measures are necessary to prevent the infection from spreading.
Dr Sanjay Rai, professor community medicine department at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), said areas that reported a high rate of infection spread during the previous waves are now reporting fewer infections and have fewer containment zones in comparison.
“In densely populated areas of the Capital infection spread quickly and people developed antibodies. Evidence has emerged that people who recover from mild Covid-19 develop antibodies which may last lifetime,” Dr Rai told HT. Dr Rai said it was the reasons behind densely populated districts reporting lower cases even in the second wave.
