216 in nine days: Sealed zones touch high of 803 in Delhi

NEW DELHI: The spike in Covid cases has seen the number of containment zones in Delhi going up by 216 in the last nine days. This is the sharpest rise in sealed areas in the capital and has taken the total number of red zones to 803 on August 28, the most since the Covid-19 pandemic arrived in the city. In the past three days alone, 109 areas reporting clusters of corona cases have been sealed.

The growth of red zones is significant because the number of containment areas saw a dip earlier this month to less than 500 from a high of over 700 towards the end of July. A government official explained that the rise in containment zones was the outcome of the government’s reaction to the increase in Covid cases in recent days.
“The district authorities are quickly converting into containment zones those locations reporting multiple cases from a certain apartment, street or a housing block. Sealing off such areas is an effective way of checking the spread of the coronavirus,” said the official.
Any locality that reports more than three Covid-positive cases within a small distance of each other is converted into a containment zone. The area is sealed off and full restrictions imposed on movement of people and vehicles there, with the implementation of the strictures overseen by police personnel and civil defence volunteers. Essentials are home delivered to the residents through select service providers under the guidance of the authorities.
In the 11 districts, South-West currently has the highest number of 162 active containment zones, followed by West with 113, North 110 and South 102. The fewest containment zones, 22, are in North-East district, while North-West with 29 and New Delhi with 31 are just above it.
So far, Delhi has cumulatively sealed 1,694 areas since the Covid outbreak, 321 of them located in South-West district, followed by West with 266 containment zones and North with 223. A total of 891 sealed zones have been reopened .
According to a government official, containment zones help by focusing attention of the local authorities on those spots and allowing extensive disinfection, contact tracing and surveillance. Sealing does affect economic activities and people’s lives, but ultimately helps the citizens because the coronavirus is contained to a limited space.
A government source confided that one of the reasons behind the rise in the number of containment zones was many members of the same families testing positive. “It has been observed that some people delay going for tests and spread the infection in the family,” the source said. “The CM has appealed to people to opt for testing as soon as they notice Covid symptoms.”