50 large outbreak areas notified in Gurugram district

As the Covid-19 infections in the district continue to surge, with 3,684 new cases reported on Tuesday, the district administration notified 50 large outbreak areas, officials familiar with the matter said

As the Covid-19 infections in the district continue to surge, with 3,684 new cases reported on Tuesday, the district administration notified 50 large outbreak areas, officials familiar with the matter said. Non-essential movement will be completely barred in these clusters and rigorous contact tracing will be undertaken, said officials.

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The maximum number of outbreak areas, under 11 public health centres across the district, were notified under the Nathupur and Chanderloke public health centres, with most of the containment zones under these areas located in condominiums along the Golf Course Road and around MG Road.

Yash Garg, the deputy commissioner of Gurugram, said, “Earlier, we were declaring micro-containment zones, but as we saw that cases are continuing to increase, we will now be declaring macro containment zones, blocking non-essential movement in a whole area from where cluster cases are being reported. Thereafter, focus will be on rigorous contact tracing and testing in the given area.”

As per the district administration, large outbreak areas were decided on the basis of geographical areas where localised increase in cases are being reported. The cases may or may not be epidemiologically linked, but for operational purposes, a large outbreak area is one where there are 15 or more cases, while a containment zone is an area where at least five Covid-19 cases are reported, officials said.

According to guidelines issued by the district administration, reasonable restrictions on movement of people will be imposed in these areas, along with intensive public health campaigns, sanitisation of entire large outbreak area by the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram or other agencies responsible, and operation of only essential shops and commercial establishment in such areas.

In case transit through a large outbreak area is unavoidable, then usage of Aarogya Setu application will be a must, along with thermal scanning and symptomatic scanning at entry/exit points. Rapid testing facilities will be made available at exit points for symptomatic persons, said officials.

The district administration also directed the Ayush department to distribute immunity boosters to people in the area.