More red zones as Delhi extends clampdown
NEW DELHI: Delhi added 10 new containment areas to arrest coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases, which climbed to 1,154 – the national capital reported 85 fresh infections and five deaths on Sunday – even as chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said his government was focusing on zones designated “red” and “orange” to isolate and control the outbreak.
The new containment zones were located in East of Kailash — a lane in E Block, Kailash Hills and Shera Mohalla in Garhi village — apart from two in Abu
Fazal Enclave, two in Madanpur Khadar and two in Jaitpur Extension-II in the south-east Delhi district; and Mahavir Enclave near Dwarka in southwest Delhi.
With the new containment zones, Delhi has demarcated 43 such areas so far. While there is a 21-day lockdown in place across the country, these places are under firmer restrictions, with buildings, housing societies and even entire neighbourhoods sequestered under heavy police presence. People are not allowed to step out of their houses and authorities are delivering essentials to their homes. Kejriwal
said the Delhi government was treating the containment areas as “red zones”.
The increase in infections in Delhi has largely been driven by the detection of hundreds of patients who attended a congregation of the Tablighi Jamaat, a Muslim missionary group, in Nizamuddin last month.
Of the 85 fresh cases on Sunday, 35 were identified “under special operations”.
Starting Saturday, the Delhi government’s daily health bulletins were not giving specific details on the cases linked to the Nizamuddin cluster. Officials, however, said the “special operations” cases, 746 so far, included those present at the Jamaat gatherings and their contacts.
“Over the last few days, [Covid-19] cases have been rising and
I am worried about them. We are taking all steps to control the disease,” Kejriwal said during a digital news briefing. The chief minister said that large-scale sanitation drives will be conducted in the red zones and other high-risk zones labelled “orange” on the basis of advice from experts.
Shortly after the CM said his government planned to announce several new containment zones, the Delhi government released an updated list. The south-east Delhi district now has the highest number of containment zones (12), overtaking the count in east Delhi, which previously had the most such zones at nine.
“The case in East of Kailash E block is of a woman doctor who got infected while treating a patient. She was admitted to a private hospital almost 10-12 days back. There is another case from Kailash Hills. We were told that the person had travelled abroad,” said RK Rathore, chairman of Federation of East of Kailash residents’ welfare associations.
According to a Delhi government official, one confirmed case was reported in Shera Mohalla in Garhi, an urbanised village in the locality. As it is a densely populated area, the government has decided to seal it so that the neighbourhood can be screened for people who may have come in contact with infected people, the official said on condition of anonymity.
Chief minister Kejriwal said the government will keep adding containment zones wherever new patients of the highly contagious disease are detected. He said the Delhi government’s “Operation SHIELD” was effective in Delhi’s Dilshad Garden, where no new cases were reported in 10 days. SHIELD stands for sealing, home quarantine, isolation, essential supplies, local sanitation and doorto-door health checks.
“Both red zones and orange zones will witness heightened sanitation and disinfection drive,” he added.
An official said on condition of anonymity that buffer zones – areas immediately surrounding the containment clusters – were currently being considered as orange zones.
The definition of orange zones may be expanded to include areas with high population density, he indicated.
In a tweet, deputy CM Manish Sisodia said: “So far, 43 areas have been sealed under Operation SHIELD of the Delhi government. Beware of the virus. Step out only if necessary. But wear a mask, maintain distance from others and keep washing your hands.”