Intensive contact tracing, more rapid antigen tests in 8 large outbreak areas of Gurugram from today

The Gurugram administration has decided to launch an intensive contact tracing exercise along with antigen testing in the eight large outbreak regions of the city

The Gurugram administration has decided to launch an intensive contact tracing exercise along with antigen testing in the eight large outbreak regions of the city which will be put under a 15-day lockdown starting Tuesday.

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Officials of the district administration said that in order to break the chain of transmission in these areas, there would be strict curbs on the movement of people also, with only emergency travel permitted.

As per the government order issued on Friday, a large outbreak is defined as a localised increase in Covid-19 cases within a defined geographical area in a village, a town or a city. The cases may or may not be epidemiologically linked. For operational purposes, a large outbreak is deemed to be present when there are 15 or more cases.”

A containment zone, in comparison, has been defined as an area, which has five cases.

To take stock of the measures that have been proposed to be taken up in the outbreak areas,, a meeting of nodal officers for Covid-19 was held on Monday. The meeting was chaired by Ashok Sangwan, divisional commissioner, Gurugram.

During the meeting it was further decided that strict restriction on movement of people will be imposed in all eight large outbreak regions and nodal officers have been appointed to ensure compliance.

“The focus will be on conducting antigen tests, RTPCR tests and serological survey to identify Covid 19 patients and check community transmission of the virus. Individuals, who have come in close contact with Covid positive patients, will be tested to check the transmission of virus in these clusters,” said Dr Virender Yadav, chief medical officer, Gurugram. The department will also be conducting a large scale information awareness and communication outreach in the eight areas, some of which have reported at least 150 cases each.

Yadav also said that apart from seven teams, four additional groups have been formed to conduct antigen tests at 66 designated spots in other containment zones of the city.

As per directions issued by Amit Khatri, deputy commissioner on Monday, areas identified as large outbreak regions will be barricaded from Tuesday and will have only a single entry and exit point. The order further said that essential services will be made available by respective government departments and information regarding dos and dont’s, helpline numbers and other services will be made available in these areas. The police and other departments will ensure that any person entering or exiting these areas should have Aarogya Setu application installed, thermal scanners would be deployed at booths set up for asymptomatic screening. Pamphlets and masks will also be distributed in these areas.

The Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikran, which is entrusted with the job of contact tracing, said that the authority will increase manpower and also launch web application to customize and share contact tracing data in real time.

Jitender Yadav, administrator, HSVP, confirmed that they have decided to increase the people engaged in contact tracing in the large outbreak areas. “We have also developed a web-based application, which shall be introduced to gather data, update it real time, compile it and share it for easy accessibility. This will boost coordination with different departments and help contact tracing efforts,” he said.

Apart from this, Yadav said private hospitals in Gurugram, which have taken land from HSVP on subsidized rates, have been asked to ensure that treatment is given to EWS patients as per agreement with the authority. “The hospitals have been asked to follow the norms so that patients from weaker sections of society can avail healthcare,” he said.