Ghaziabad may switch from sector scheme to containment zones in Khoda, Loni and Vaishali

The Ghaziabad health department has started working on a plan to relax restrictions in the three sealed areas of Khoda, Loni and Vaishali based on the emergence

The Ghaziabad health department has started working on a plan to relax restrictions in the three sealed areas of Khoda, Loni and Vaishali based on the emergence of cases in last 21 days and will focus more on containment zones.

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The officials of the health department said that recommendation will soon be given to the district magistrate to ease restrictions in the areas..

The three areas of Khoda, Loni and Vaishali have been placed under the sector scheme since May 10, May 27 and June 1 respectively, with around 8-10 lakh people living in the three localities having their movements restricted to contain the spread of Covid-19.

“Our teams are closely monitoring areas in Khoda, Loni and Vaishali. We plan to maintain category 1 and category 2 containment zones. In case any locality in these three areas has had no cases in the last 21 days, we will recommend its opening. Otherwise, the areas will remain as containment zones. A plan is being chalked out and a report will be submitted to the district magistrate, who will take the final call,” said Dr NK Gupta, chief medical officer of the district.

The officials said that category 1 containment are those where a single case has emerged and entitles sealing of a radius of 250 metres. Category 2 containment zones are those where more than one cases have emerged and requires a sealing of at least 500 metres radius with an additional area of 200 metres as buffer zone.

Once sealed, only essential activities and people are allowed inside containment zones. There is strict perimeter control and no movement of residents is allowed except for medical emergencies or purchasing/maintaining essential supplies.

“Residents in these areas want relaxation in overall sealing as the local economy of the area and jobs of locals have taken a hit. There is no point in sealing and also maintaining containment zones inside the sealed locality. Maintaining containment zones, where fresh cases have occurred, is a better idea,” said Mohit Sharma, resident of sector-1, Vaishali.

Ghaziabad district till June 5 had recorded 398 positive cases of Covid-19 with 271 patients discharged and nine deaths so far.

According to official records, Khoda accounted for about 58 (four fresh cases on Saturday) cases, including 14 before the sealing was done. Likewise, Loni has 35 cases (no fresh cases), with 21 before the area was placed under sealing. Vaishali on the other hand was subjected to sealing only on June 1 and has a total of 41 cases (five fresh) with 34 emerging before the sealing.

Overall, the three localities placed under sealing account for about 31% of total cases in the district. The administration on June 5 had claimed that Khoda was reporting 18% positive cases before the sealing. The number dropped to 12% after the sealing.

They had added that Loni’s cases reduced from 10% to 7% while those in Vaishali reduced from 28% to 5% after sector scheme was implemented. However, no corresponding figures of positive cases and number of sampling were provided.

“The relaxation in sealing is being reviewed by a committee, led by the chief medical officer. They will submit a report and recommendations,” said Ajay Shankar Pandey, district magistrate.

The officials said that district till June 5 has 105 containment zones, including 85 in category 1.

CMO Gupta also maintained that cases have continued to come in on regular basis from Khoda, Loni and Vaishali.

“In Khoda and Loni we have contained the spread of Covid-19 infection, else it would have resulted in hundreds of new cases being reported daily considering the density of population. Vaishali has also received with only two casesbeing reported after sealing,” CMO added.

Khoda’s executive office KK Bhadana said, “We have three major areas in Khoda from where majority of cases have come. We are hopeful that the district magistrate will review the sealing. People in Khoda have already been under lockdown for about two months.”