Three months later, five areas in Delhi still under containment

Like GTB Enclave, there are four other areas — blocks K and G in Jahangirpuri, Majlis Park in Adarsh Nagar and Hauz Rani, which have remained containment zones for more than three months.

GTB Enclave’s Block E was among the first 23 containment zones announced by the Delhi government in April to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in the city. But more than three months later, the northeast Delhi locality continues to be sealed off, and subject to stringent checks.

CRPF personnel next to barricades in Hauz Rani containment zone. (Amal KS/HT Photo)

Like GTB Enclave, there are four other areas — blocks K and G in Jahangirpuri, Majlis Park in Adarsh Nagar and Hauz Rani, which have remained containment zones for more than three months.

While Savitri Enclave in Malviya Nagar figures in the Delhi government’s containment zone list, the south district administration said it has been de-sealed. Nearly 58 localities were declared containment zones in May. As on Sunday, Delhi had 652 containment zones.

With new cases continuing to spring up in some of these areas, residents are beset by uncertainty, frustration and a longing for a return to a semblance of normalcy.

Click here for complete coronavirus coverage

District officials said there were still some major reasons because of which these zones have remained sealed for months. According to a district official, these include the presence of several medical professionals living in some zones, the 28-day rule for de-sealing a containment zone, and continuous movement of people within the zone despite strict curbs. District administration officials said they have raised the matter with the Delhi government. As per the Centre’s orders, a containment zone can be de-sealed 28 days after the last Covid-19 case has recovered or tested negative. Senior Delhi government officials said they are considering writing to the Centre, asking for this policy to be re-examined.

Divisional commissioner with the Delhi government Sanjeev Khirwar said, “We are thinking about writing to the Government of India to relook at the policy for de-sealing a containment zone with regard to length of the containment period. Our main aim is to control the spread of the infection. The decision to de-seal an area has to be taken as per the protocol set by the Union health ministry. Meanwhile, we have redrawn the boundaries of several containment zones to break them into smaller areas for better surveillance.”

In a containment zone for 77 days, Naveen Jain (55), a stock market investor who lives in lane 3 in Majlis Park said he and other residents have approached district authorities to limit containment to houses where positive cases are kept in home quarantine.

“One person was recently placed in home quarantine, because of which the entire lane continues to be a containment zone. The person has recovered 10 days back. We have been in containment for 77 days and district authorities say we will have to wait for another 18-20 days. What if another case is reported during this period? How long will we have to stay the containment zone? The government must revise its guidelines,” Jain said.

These areas continue to be containment zones, though some are much smaller now, even after the Delhi government in June redrew the boundaries of containment zones, breaking them into smaller clusters for better surveillance and control of the outbreak. The number of containment zones in the city jumped from 280 to 421 on June 28 after the boundaries were reworked. In June, the Centre and the Delhi government had agreed to deploy a revamped strategy to fight Covid-19 and decided to remap the containment zones for improved scrutiny.

A district magistrate who asked to stay anonymous said, “One of the main reasons we still see Covid-19 cases in these areas is because several medical professionals and health care workers live in these areas. But the 28-day rule should be re-examined, especially when we are reporting a large numbers of cases in these areas. By the time we are about to complete 28 days, a new case is reported in the containment zone, and we are not able to de-seal many of the old containment zones.”

Several residents of GTB Enclave, which has over 1,000 flats, are medical professionals who work in nearby government-run facilities like Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital GTB, Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital, Delhi State cancer Institute and Swami Dayanand Hospital. Similarly, south Delhi’s Hauz Rani, which was declared a containment zone on April 16, houses several nurses who work in nearby private hospitals and nursing homes, a senior south district official said.

Another district magistrate, who asked not to be named, said, “They are part of essential services and most of them work in dedicated Covid-19 hospitals. Their movement can’t be restricted. But due to this, there are cases being reported in these localities.”

With the Delhi government starting rapid antigen tests, with a focus on containment zones, from June 18, more people have tested positive for the infectious disease, said a Shahdara district official.

MM Tripathi, general secretary of E pocket GTB Enclave said, “For doctors and other medical staff, we have fixed timings for the gates to be opened. Of the five gates in the pocket, three are permanently closed.”

While the area is a containment zone, Tripathi said there are barely any restrictions on movement. “After mid-May, even residents not working in essential services, have been going to offices. But street vendors are not allowed to open their stalls in the colony and shops, apart from those selling essential items, are closed.”

Dr Jugal Kishore, head of community medicine at Safdarjung Hospital, said the containment zones are not serving any purpose now when Delhi has registered over 100,000 Covid-19 cases and most economic activities have resumed, under the Centre’s Unlock 2.0 plans. “The idea of containment zones was to contain the spread of the disease, especially in the initial stage when we were trying to ramp up our medical infrastructure. Now, when we have adequate hospital beds and alternative strategies such as home isolation in place, there is no need to have containment zones, especially when people’s movement within such an area is allowed,” he said.

While these continue to containment zones, district administrations have redrawn the boundaries so that at least some parts of these areas can be de-sealed.

For instance, the Hauz Rani containment zone is much smaller now than what it was on April 16, when it was first declared a containment zone, a senior district official said. “There were three containment zones initially, which were further divided into five last month. Now we have just one containment zone, which we are trying to de-seal,” a south district official said.

Similarly, in Majlis Park, there were three lanes declared as one containment zone on April 26. While two lanes have been de-sealed, one remains shut.