KMC, cops jittery over Covid map shift, rise in number of high-risk zones

KOLKATA: The shifting Covid map in the city has witnessed a spike in the number of fresh cases in zones that had reported fewer cases after an initial surge. This has kept both KMC and Kolkata Police on their toes.
Slums in Bagbazar, Muchibazar near Ultadanga railway station and Manoharpukur — areas that had managed to keep the number under control over last few weeks —have all seen rise in Covid positive cases. A special team from police and KMC have started collecting numerous samples from Bagbazar after several residents complained of Covid-like symptoms. “These zones were in the green for some time,” a civic official said.
Kolkata is also witnessing a steady rise in containment units along with the case spike. On June 1, Kolkata had less than 900 containment units. On Wednesday, it had 1,403 such units. Till May 31, Kolkata had 2,179 total cases and the number nearly doubled to touch 4,089 on Wednesday. This prompted KMC to adopt a comprehensive micro-containment policy to deal with the emerging trend.
According to the newly devised plan, the civic body’s anti-Covid squad will extend doorstep help to the suspects. “We have a team of tele-callers at the boroughs and a central team at the civic headquarters. They will note down the names of suspects in containment areas and take all measures for random tests. This apart, we will arrange for supply of medicines to senior citizens with symptoms to discourage them from stepping out of their homes if they are located close to a containment area,” said a KMC health department official.
Concerned over the rising number of containment areas, both KMC and Kolkata Police held separate meetings at their headquarters to thrash out ways to micro-manage the high-risk area in a better way. Apart from the north Kolkata slums, police fear the outbreak at Turf View, Hastings, Ekbalpore-Kidderpore, a of Alipore (along with a few cases at Fort William and Police Training School ) might be related to two local markets near Kidderpore. “The manner in which Kidderpore and Ekbalpore are reporting caseshas led us to believe that stronger measures are required to regulate these markets. We have apprised KMC about it,” said a south division officer.
But not everything is bad, as both agencies see some light at the end of the tunnel. For the first time in the post-Amphan phase (ever since the containment zone list was updated this month) the city managed to shed off 82 containment units in the past 48 hours. “This is some progress given that no one from the families or the immediate neighbours had contracted the disease,’ said a KMC doctor who is part of the Covid-response team.