Red zones tally stagnant, even as 11 areas opened up in 4 days
Eleven Covid-19 containment zones have turned green in the national capital Delhi over the last four days, a sign that the steps taken by authorities to curtail the spread of the disease in the coronavirus hotspots were effective in many places, a senior city government official told Hindustan Times.
The locations that have emerged out of the containment zones include Nawabganj area in the central district, home to nearly 6,500 people. Besides, it also includes south district’s Sangam Vihar and Deoli Extension in Saket, Khirki extension and Chirag Delhi’s Jain Mohalla and the police colony in north district’s Model Town police colony.
The exclusion of these containment zones, however, has not reduced their total number because Covid-19 cases continue to be reported from new locations apart from some of the hotspots.
The city still has 91 active containment zones, more or less the figure a few days earlier. Of these, 50 are in red and have reported cases over the last fortnight.
“But this also implies that approximately a dozen containment zones that were in the red have been moved to the orange category did not report a single case over the last fortnight and were classified as orange,” a second government official said.
Delhi has added over 400 Covid-19 patients over the past 24 hours to push the national capital’s Covid-19 count closer to the 15,000-mark.
Also, 12 more people died of the disease. In all, the city has lost 288 lives due to coronavirus cases.
The city’s Covid-19 count stands at 14,465.
Nearly 48% of them have already recovered. 183 more were reported to have been cured in the last 24 hours.
Of the remaining 7,223, only about 2,092 are being treated at government and private hospitals. The rest are mild cases and told to stay home in isolation.
But there are 185 patients who have had to be admitted to the intensive care unit for treatment, another 27 are on ventilators.
Officials suggest that the fluctuations in the daily reported cases were on expected lines.
That the city needs to get used to the idea of the virus around is a point that has been repeatedly made by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who underscored that he would get worried only if there is a sharp spike in the number of deaths.
Or a spike in the number of patients requiring hospitalisation or intensive care. That could lead to a collapse of the health infrastructure system.
“But it is not so… Most cases that are surfacing these days are those of patients with either mild or no symptoms, which are not required to be admitted in hospital,” Kejriwal, who has been working closely with Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, said.
Around 90% of Delhi University (DU) students said they are not prepared to appear for the university examinations citing a number of reasons, from not having materials to not having high-speed connectivity to attend online examinations, according to a survey by the varsity teachers’ association
The Covid-19 lockdown enforced since March 25 has affected the university’s examination schedule. On May 14, DU had announced that it may conduct open-book online examinations for final-year students if the Covid-19 situation prevented the regular pen-paper mode. Teachers and students have been opposing the decision citing lack of access to high-speed internet, devices like smartphones and laptops, intermittent electricity in remote areas, among others.
The survey, by Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA), had over 51,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students as respondents, over 21,800 of whom are final-year students. The university has 900,000 students. As per the survey, over 85% students said they were not ready for an online open-book examination (OBE).
Over 70% said they attended less than half of the online classes conducted on through video conferencing apps. Over 55% of the students did not have the reading material for the syllabus covered before the pandemic struck since they left their notes in Delhi while returning to their home town.
Despite repeated calls and messages over the questions raised on online examination and their feasibility, DU vice-chancellor Yogesh Tyagi could not be reached for comment.
“The economic strain on families due to the crisis affects students as well. Besides, students sometimes have to step outside their homes for better network reception. Around 74% study on their smartphones and this limits their comprehension as well,” said Abha Dev Habib, DUTA treasurer.