The blocks were first sealed on April 6. Express Photo by Tashi Tobgyal
Over a month after it was declared a containment zone, two blocks in Nizamuddin West – G and D – were taken off the list on Tuesday. The blocks were sealed on April 6. Nizamuddin Basti, which houses the Alami Markaz Banglewali Masjid, the headquarters of the Tablighi Jamaat, will continue to remain a containment zone for at least 25 more days as a resident tested positive for Covid-19 two days ago.
Nizamuddin West has not seen any fresh cases since March 31. According to the protocol set by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, an area can be decontained if no fresh cases are confirmed for 28 consecutive days. According to officials, five people in the area had tested positive till the end of March but no fresh case has been reported since.
Entry and exit is not allowed in containment zones where shops are also not allowed to open.
“As per guidelines circulated by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare… the operation will be scaled down if no secondary laboratory confirmed Covid-19 case is reported from the geographic quarantine zone for at least four weeks after the last confirmed test has been isolated and all his contacts have been followed up for 28 days… the health authorities have confirmed that the conditions for scaling down are fulfilled in the case of G and D blocks, Nizamuddin West,” the order for decontainment said.
Lockdown conditions, however, will continue to be in force like the rest of the city. Areas such as Dinpur Village in Southwest Delhi and Hari Nagar in West Delhi were also decontained on Tuesday. So far, 22 areas in Delhi have been decontained, leaving only 78 containment zones in the capital now.
Earlier in the day, municipal councillor Yasmin Kidwai had appealed for desealing in the area as there were no new cases, and had claimed that she raised the issue with the Delhi Chief Minister and the Lieutenant Governor.
“People in the area have been facing many problems as home delivery has not been regular. Shops inside the area also ran out of supplies and couldn’t get restocked,” she said.
Officials from the district administration said they had been helping with supplies in the area since April and that people will now be allowed to go out of their houses between 7 am and 7 pm, as per lockdown conditions.