E-Paper
Ghaziabad: Sealing parameters for highrise societies relaxed; random sampling directed in trans-Hindon areas
Ghaziabad:
Ghaziabad:
In what may come as a breather for residents of residential highrises in Ghaziabad, the district health department officials on Wednesday said they have decided to redefine the parameters of sealing towers in residential societies, incase residents living there contract the coronavirus (Covid-19) disease. According to the chief medical officer (CMO) on Wednesday issued an order and relaxed the sealing of Jaipuria Sunrise Greens highrise in Indirapuram which was fully sealed on May 24.
“I have issued an order to relax the full sealing of the highrise. As per the order, only one tower of the society, from where a 35-year-old resident was found positive, will be sealed. This will now be made applicable for all highrise societies in urban areas. Henceforth, if there is a single case in a society, only that particular tower (where the infected case lives) will be sealed,” CMO Dr NK Gupta said.
He added, though, that the sealing parameters will depend on the number of cases in a highrise.
“In case there is more than one case in a highrise and a cluster-like situation emerges, we will increase the area a bit to 400 metres and try that other residents are least affected. If there are more towers in the complex of the same society beyond this limit, they will not be sealed,” he added.
In the directions, issued Wednesday evening, the CMO directed for sealing of only the L tower of the Jaipuria Sunrise Greens society, which has a total of 16 towers comprising as many as 1,103 flats.
The Noida authorities on Tuesday had issued similar relaxation guidelines for sealing of towers in residential societies in the city.
In another direction to check community spread of Covid-19, if any, the Ghaziabad CMO has directed for initiation of random sampling in areas of Indirapuram, Vaishali and Kaushambi.
According to official records, the localities of Khoda (30 cases) and Loni (21 cases) have emerged as hotbeds for Covid-19 cases. The official statistics state that besides these two, localities of Vaishali and Indirapuram have witnessed about 19 and 15 Covid-19 cases so far, respectively.
“We have been carrying on random sampling in Khoda and also from containment zones. Such sampling measures have now been directed in areas of Indirapuram, Vaishali and Kaushambi, etc. as cases continue to surface. Random sampling will help us deploy teams which will pick up random samples of residents. This method will help us check if there is any community spread,” Dr Gupta said.
He further said that he has also given directions for speedy discharge of persons from quarantine facilities and is now stressing more on home quarantine.
“Since the government order has also come for home quarantine of close contacts of Covid-19 patients, we have directed officials that such persons should be placed in home quarantine if they have separate rooms and toilets at their homes. Even those close contacts who have tested negative for the disease at least once or who have completed 14 days in quarantine facilities be sent home immediately,” the CMO added.
SECTOR SCHEME TO BE DEPLOYED IN LONI
In another major directive for Ghaziabad, the district magistrate on Wednesday said that the Loni town will be subjected to the sector scheme with deployment of magistrates in different sectors and the movement of Loni residents will be restricted to areas of Delhi and Noida.
“The sector scheme in Loni will be applicable from May 28 and will be on lines of Khoda, where for instance an entire locality was divided into sectors and managed by magistrates. Under the scheme, teams of health department will take up extensive surveys, sanitisation, surveillance, sampling and other activities in order to check for presence of Covid-19 affected persons,” Ghaziabad district magistrate Ajay Shankar Pandey said.
“This is being done as there are a number of Covid-19 cases which have emerged from Loni and we need to enhance surveillance to check any further spread,” he added.
According to the directions issued with respect to Loni, officials have been asked to make announcements that Loni residents should make arrangements for their stay in Delhi and Noida if they go to these cities for work.
For the purpose of initiation of the sector scheme, Loni has been divided in four zones and eight sectors wherein every sector will have deployment of magistrates, police officers and teams of the health department.
The administration on May 10 had sealed Khoda till further orders in order to prevent the spread of Covid-19 infection, after a number of cases were reported from there.
“In Khoda, 30 persons were found positive while 1,183 persons were found negative. Out of 30, 26 have been discharged while only a single death case resulted, which was due to comorbid conditions of the patient,” the CMO added.
