Faridabad police starts tracking people who visited Azadpur Mandi

On Tuesday, a total of 11 Covid-19 positive cases were reported, out of which six were contacts of a person who had visited Azadpur Mandi, four were contacts of a vegetable seller in Mujesar Mandi, and one was the nephew of a Covid-19 positive patient.

The Faridabad Police is tracing people who have visited Azadpur Mandi in Delhi recently by picking up dump mobile data from cellphone towers over the last 10 days, said the police.

The Faridabad Police said that Azadpur Mandi has emerged as a hotspot of Covid-19 and therefore contact tracing of people who have visited the market in recent times was necessary. (Sanchit Khanna/HT file photo)

This new method was adopted after a number of cases of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) were reported in Faridabad that had connections with Delhi.

On Tuesday, a total of 11 Covid-19 positive cases were reported, out of which six were contacts of a person who had visited Azadpur Mandi, four were contacts of a vegetable seller in Mujesar Mandi, and one was the nephew of a Covid-19 positive patient. The total number of positive cases in the district has now reached 117.

The police said Azadpur Mandi has emerged as a hotspot of Covid-19 and therefore contact tracing of people who have visited the market in recent times was necessary.

KK Rao, Faridabad commissioner of police, said they had formed special teams for keeping a strict vigil in and around the city, including the vegetable vendors who were regularly visiting Delhi markets.

“We picked up the data of people through their call logs, who had visited hotspot areas and started to track them down,” he said.

The data, saved by telecommunication companies, include location information and call history. These were shared with the police, following which the police started tracking.

“We have conducted a screening of all the vegetable vendors and their close contacts. Within three days, we have also identified people who had gone to the vegetable markets in the Capital in the past 10 days through their mobile data. We are trying to get them tested,” said Rao.

The district administration on May 2, had formed teams consisting of police officers, health department and other administrative officials, who visited the vegetable markets of the district and collected samples of more than 200 people in three days. Of these samples, more than 20 people were tested positive.

Yashpal Yadav, deputy commissioner (DC) of Faridabad, said they have been spreading awareness and have requested people who had visited Delhi to come forward and get their tests done. “We are also sending our teams to collect samples in case anyone is unable to visit hospitals. Our mobile vans are also visiting residential areas to collect samples,” he said.

Four coronavirus deaths have been reported from Faridabad in the last 10 days, said officials, adding that the recent patient was a 65-year-old man who was a resident of Sector 18.

Yadav said while all the four cases were found positive for Covid-19, but the cause of death also included multiple ailments and comorbid conditions.