Noida braces for 'second Covid wave', DM to come up with new guidelines

NOIDA: The Noida health department, which has managed to flatten the Covid curve in the past month and a half, is gearing up to deal with a "second wave" of infection. The speculation about another surge in Covid cases has been reinforced by the return of migrant workers from various districts of Bihar and eastern UP that have a high caseload.

A series of meetings between administrative and health officials has been lined up from Monday to discuss the strategy that has to be implemented in the days to come. Over the past few weeks, the positivity rate across Delhi-NCR has come down with increased testing and tracing. But as economic activity is resuming and industries are reaching out to labourers who have left for their hometowns, officials fear that a "reverse migration" of migrants would lead to a spike in Covid cases.
Narendra Bhooshan, the nodal officer for Covid response in the district, said, "There is no restriction now on movement of people or transport. So, tracing those who are coming back to the district from Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh would be difficult in the absence of any cooperation from the stakeholders. We are going to deliberate upon a strategy that needs to be put in place to control the spread of the infection."
What has been a cause for concern is that most of these workers are expected to return from districts that have a high caseload. While Lucknow has more than 7,000 active cases, the number in Varanasi, Prayagraj (Allahabad) and Gorakhpur has crossed 2,000 this week. Even the interior districts of UP, such as Balia, Deoria, Basti and Kushinagar, have 900-1,000 cases on an average.
The situation is similar in Bihar, where Patna, Begusarai, Nalanda, Saharsa, Araria, Buxar, Katihar and East Champaran are reporting a number of fresh cases.
According to a rough estimate, around 80,000 workers had gone back home from Noida in May alone.
Officials are currently devising a strategy to track the number of those returning.
Noida district magistrate Suhas LY is expected to soon frame guidelines for industries, manufacturing units, construction firms and commercial establishments. Their owners would be asked to inform the integrated Covid control room about the workers who come back from their native places.
The DM said he had asked the health department to come up with suggestions on checking the spread of the infection. "Since economic activity has resumed, a reverse migration has started. Many people from places that have a high case incidence will come back to the city. We have managed to flatten the curve and we will have to be careful to keep the positivity rate in check," he added.