Three hotspots have been declared corona free in the last few days.
NEW DELHI:Delhi’s extensive modelling of hotspot areas, coupled with the Delhi government’s operation SHIELD in the national capital, has shown success and at least three such areas have been declared corona free in the last few days.
In a first, Dilshad Garden, which was identified as a hotspot in March—when an old lady who returned from Saudi Arabia had tested positive along with eight others, including a mohalla clinic doctor after they came in contact with the lady— has now been declared corona free as no new cases have been reported from the area in the last 10 days.
Apart from this, the hotspot areas of Delhi’s Vasundhara enclave and Khichripur, which were declared as hotspots and sealed on 31 March, have also been successfully declared as corona free as there has been not a single new case even from these areas since the last 10 days.
The Delhi government has adopted the containment plan in the hotspot areas where more than 4-5 cases of corona has been reported and has decided to completely seal off these areas in a bid to stop the spread of the virus and break the chain. This, epidemiologists say, is an effective model to stop a cluster outbreak like the one that was witnessed in the national capital following the Tablighi Jamaat incident brought to light on 31 March.
Apart from completely sealing off this area, the government has also implemented a containment plan which it terms as Operation SHIELD. Operation SHIELD stands as Sealing, Home Quarantine, Isolation and tracking, Essential supply, Local sanitisation and Door-to-door health checkups.
Through this operation, as soon a hotspot is identified, the entire area is sealed immediately and a containment plan is drawn out, apart from ensuring sanitisation of the area at least twice a day till the area is declared corona free. In the containment zone, no person is allowed to leave their houses and all essential supplies would be delivered at the door step by government-appointed officials.
According to details of the containment plan, each district would be headed by the chairman DDMA (Delhi Disaster Management Authority), along with the ADMs and DCPs taking direct stock of the situation from the SDMS on a regular basis.
Each containment zone in the district is mapped out and health department officials are allotted for this zone who would go to each and every house to check on every individual in the area and monitor for symptomatic patients and contact tracing. Apart from this, all service providers in the containment zone, like milk man, security guards, plumbers, vegetable vendors, electricians would all be tested for Covid-19, irrespective of symptoms.
A list of all contacts of positive patients is also prepared to ensure that each and every one is monitored and tested.
Strong round-the-clock police pickets are also deployed in three shifts to ensure that no one leaves their houses and no individual is allowed to enter or exit the containment zone. The Delhi government has also ensured that essential items like milk, vegetables and medicines are delivered to the doorstep of each and every house in the containment zone. Each of this containment zones has a dedicated nodal officer appointed by the government who can be reached out to directly by the residents on his/her mobile number.
At some of these containment zones, the nodal officer, along with picketing officers, has formed a WhatsApp group having all members of that particular area. The WhatsApp group also has the numbers of the essential service providers, hunger relief centres and designated government officials. Any member from a containment zone can send out a message on that group with their requirement and the officials posted there would take care to ensure that such items are delivered to them at the earliest. The Delhi government has presently identified about 60 hotspots spread across 10 districts as containment zones in the national capital and the number is likely to change as the number of cases begins to rise or decrease.
In a first, Dilshad Garden, which was identified as a hotspot in March—when an old lady who returned from Saudi Arabia had tested positive along with eight others, including a mohalla clinic doctor after they came in contact with the lady— has now been declared corona free as no new cases have been reported from the area in the last 10 days.
Apart from this, the hotspot areas of Delhi’s Vasundhara enclave and Khichripur, which were declared as hotspots and sealed on 31 March, have also been successfully declared as corona free as there has been not a single new case even from these areas since the last 10 days.
The Delhi government has adopted the containment plan in the hotspot areas where more than 4-5 cases of corona has been reported and has decided to completely seal off these areas in a bid to stop the spread of the virus and break the chain. This, epidemiologists say, is an effective model to stop a cluster outbreak like the one that was witnessed in the national capital following the Tablighi Jamaat incident brought to light on 31 March.
Apart from completely sealing off this area, the government has also implemented a containment plan which it terms as Operation SHIELD. Operation SHIELD stands as Sealing, Home Quarantine, Isolation and tracking, Essential supply, Local sanitisation and Door-to-door health checkups.
Through this operation, as soon a hotspot is identified, the entire area is sealed immediately and a containment plan is drawn out, apart from ensuring sanitisation of the area at least twice a day till the area is declared corona free. In the containment zone, no person is allowed to leave their houses and all essential supplies would be delivered at the door step by government-appointed officials.
According to details of the containment plan, each district would be headed by the chairman DDMA (Delhi Disaster Management Authority), along with the ADMs and DCPs taking direct stock of the situation from the SDMS on a regular basis.
Each containment zone in the district is mapped out and health department officials are allotted for this zone who would go to each and every house to check on every individual in the area and monitor for symptomatic patients and contact tracing. Apart from this, all service providers in the containment zone, like milk man, security guards, plumbers, vegetable vendors, electricians would all be tested for Covid-19, irrespective of symptoms.
A list of all contacts of positive patients is also prepared to ensure that each and every one is monitored and tested.
Strong round-the-clock police pickets are also deployed in three shifts to ensure that no one leaves their houses and no individual is allowed to enter or exit the containment zone. The Delhi government has also ensured that essential items like milk, vegetables and medicines are delivered to the doorstep of each and every house in the containment zone. Each of this containment zones has a dedicated nodal officer appointed by the government who can be reached out to directly by the residents on his/her mobile number.
At some of these containment zones, the nodal officer, along with picketing officers, has formed a WhatsApp group having all members of that particular area. The WhatsApp group also has the numbers of the essential service providers, hunger relief centres and designated government officials. Any member from a containment zone can send out a message on that group with their requirement and the officials posted there would take care to ensure that such items are delivered to them at the earliest. The Delhi government has presently identified about 60 hotspots spread across 10 districts as containment zones in the national capital and the number is likely to change as the number of cases begins to rise or decrease.
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