Covid crisis: GB Nagar increases surveillance, may go for pocket-level curbs

: Taking serious note of the sudden spike in fresh Covid-19 cases being reported daily, the Gautam Budh Nagar district administration has asked the surveillance teams to identify critical pockets

: Taking serious note of the sudden spike in fresh Covid-19 cases being reported daily, the Gautam Budh Nagar district administration has asked the surveillance teams to identify critical pockets. The administration will take a call on whether to impose partial lockdown in the areas reporting maximum new cases based on the reports of the surveillance teams.

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District magistrate Suhas L Y said it is not easy to put restrictions in place, especially when all commercial activities are open. “The district being an industrial hub has a floating population. We cannot permit any callous approach that may facilitate the spread of the infection. Since many Covid-19 cases have emerged in the last 15 days, we have asked the surveillance teams to find the pockets with maximum caseload. We’ll ask the residents’ associations of those areas to restrict the movement of people and commercial activities,” he said.

Suhas added health officials have been asked to increase surveillance at public places and also enhance contact tracing of patients. “We are aware that the increasing number of Covid-19 cases in Delhi has a direct impact on the neighbouring districts of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. We don’t have any option apart from proper surveillance and taking all precautionary measures to check the further spread of Covid-19,” he said.

Attributing massive vehicular movement on the Delhi-Noida border for the surge in Covid-19 cases, the district magistrate said, “In the meeting with the officials of different departments today (Tuesday), I have asked them to make provisions for Covid-19 helpdesk at their establishments and not allow entry to any employee having influenza-like symptoms, like high fever and cough. Health officials have been asked to conduct up to 7,000 tests daily and enhance contact tracing in the district. They have also been asked to keep a vigil in the crowded areas. If the situation does not improve, the administration will have no option but to impose restrictions and chalk out containment zones in the critical areas,” said Suhas.

Echoing similar views, Dr Deepak Ohri, chief medical officer (CMO), said after the first Covid-19 case was detected on March 8 last year, it took 386 days for the overall case tally to cross the 26,000-mark in the district on March 28 this year. “After January 2, when the overall case tally reached the 25,000-mark, the infection rate was comparatively slow with 73 active cases in the district as on March 15. After March 15, the district recorded 387 cases in 14 days, which means the last 1,000 Covid-19 cases have been added in 85 days,” he said.