Covid-19 in Delhi: Survey to test people at high-risk kicks off

The survey is expected to cover around 5.8 million people – more than one-fourth of Delhi’s total population of around 20 million – mainly residing in the over 4,500 containment zones and localities in the 11 revenue districts.

The Delhi government started a door-to-door survey on Friday to screen people for Covid-19, encourage more testing and to ascertain the number of high-risk individuals, including the elderly, pregnant women, and those with co-morbid conditions, senior government officials said.

The survey is expected to cover around 5.8 million people – more than one-fourth of Delhi’s total population of around 20 million – mainly residing in the over 4,500 containment zones and localities in the 11 revenue districts.

Health minister Satyendar Jain Friday said the survey would first cover containment zones in the city and then move on to other areas.

The containment zones in the city collectively have under surveillance a population of around 180,000, including around 22,000 active Covid-19 cases. All other residents in these containment zones would be identified as high-risk individuals and their records will be maintained, said a senior government official, on condition of anonymity.

Senior government officials said the ambit of the survey would be expanded over the weekend. Around 9,500 teams of government health officials and civic agency employees will conduct the survey, the senior official quoted above said.

The survey queries would include age, medical history, symptoms, contact with Covid-19 patients, the proximity of residence and workplace to containment zones and hot spots, among others, said a second senior official, also on condition of anonymity.

The second official further said, “On the basis of the assessment, residents will be screened and encouraged to get themselves tested. Parallelly, the number of testing centres are also being increased. High-risk individuals, whose records will be maintained in a separate database, will be visited periodically to ascertain their well-being.”

The survey was directed by Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday in his meeting with chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and lieutenant-governor Anil Baikal. Shah had also directed that tests should be doubled in the national capital, in the light of the sharp rise in Covid-19 cases.

Delhi on Friday recorded 6,608 new Covid-19 cases and 118 more deaths, the government’s health bulletin said.