Screening of urban slums in 5 districts from today

Gurgaon: The state government plans to carry out door-to-door screening and random testing in densely-populated urban slums in five districts — Gurgaon, Faridabad, Sonipat, Panipat and Panchkula — for Covid-19 cases from Thursday.
Senior government officials held a videoconference with health department officials of these districts on Wednesday and discussed the plan of action. The move comes after officials observed that urban slums in these districts are rapidly turning into coronavirus hotspots.
“Urban slums are turning into hotspots in some districts. A large population is concentrated in these clusters, which can lead to a disaster if not dealt with properly. We’re taking steps to screen clusters in Gurgaon, Faridabad, Sonipat, Panipat and Panchkula. Mobile teams will screen residents and collect random samples of people who are at high risk of being infected from Thursday onwards,” said Rajiv Arora, Haryana additional chief secretary (health).
Around 50,000 to 80,000 people live in urban slums in the five districts, according to health department data. Most of them are daily-wage labourers. Many work in mandis, which are already Covid hotspots.