UP to redefine containment zones; state officials deputed for Covid-19 monitoring in Ghaziabad

The Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday said that the definition of containment zones will be modified and they are likely to be more compact in the form of ‘micro containment zones.’ According to the district health department, with the new concept, it is likely that the micro containment zones will have a lesser number of houses under the perimeter control.

According to the state government, the number of containment zones in the state is about 18,510 which have about 13.5 lakh houses in total. In Ghaziabad, there were 394 containment zones till September 25, as listed by the district administration.

“The definition of containment zones will be modified by the government and they will become more compact and will be in the form of ‘micro containment zones’, where perimeter control and monitoring will be stricter, besides which all people in the house will be tested,” said Awanish Awasthi, UP’s additional chief secretary (home).

The state government is likely to roll out more directions in this regard soon, said officials.

In their July 24 directions, in which containment zones were defined, category one zones, which have one Covid-19 case, are created in a radius of 100 metres or a mohalla, whichever is less. Category two zones are those which have more than one case and created in a radius of 200 metres with additional buffer area for monitoring, which is assessed on the basis of local conditions.

In a recent video conference held with the Centre, the state government had raised the issue of diversion of more resources to manage containment zones, even though many activities have opened up since the lockdown.

“According to present norms, a 200 metres containment zone is estimated to have about 300 houses, and a 100 metres containment zone has about 150 houses. With the new concept of micro containment zones, it is likely that we will have a smaller number of houses under both categories – one and two. We are expecting government directions soon in this regard,” said Dr NK Gupta, chief medical officer, Ghaziabad.

“In case the number of houses covered under micro containment zones is reduced, it will help us take up 100% testing of all individuals, as directed by the Indian Council for Medical Research,” he added.

In Ghaziabad, the state government-appointed nodal officer, Senthil Pandian C, on Friday took stock of the existing containment zones and directed the district to strictly monitor and manage them.

The state government has also sent four officers to Ghaziabad for monitoring coronavirus-related activities in the district. Ghaziabad is one of the 16 districts in the state which have more than 100 cases daily on an average per week.

According to official figures from September 1 to September 24, the district added 4,706 cases to its tally, with an average of about 196 cases per day. During this period, the district also conducted 88,963 sampling/testing with an average of 3,706 per day.

The four officials will hold review meetings with district officials and will also take up inspections and submit reports to the chief minister’s office as well as to the state administration.

“The four officials have arrived and they will be taking up a review meeting on Saturday night. Once the meeting is over, we will be able to know of their suggestions and what steps will be needed to better tackle the Covid-19 situation,” Dr Gupta added.