COVID-19 containment zones increase to 68 Delhi; cases climb to 1,707

The number of COVID-19 containment zones in Delhi increased to 68 on Friday as the national capital reported 67 fresh cases of the disease and four deaths, Delhi government authorities said. The total number of coronavirus cases in Delhi now stands at 1,707 and the death toll at 42, they said. Of the total cases, 1,080 are those who have been brought to facilities through special operations.

Government authorities had last month carried out measures to quarantine people who were related to the religious congregation that took place in Nizamuddin area in March. By Thursday night, the number of cases of the deadly virus in the city stood at 1,640 including 38 deaths. Out of the total cases, 72 have been discharged and one has migrated out of the country, authorities said.

The number of containment zones in Delhi on Friday stood at 68, with new zones being added in various areas, including in Malviya Nagar and Jahangirpuri, authorities said. A zone in Sangam Vihar was contained on Friday after a total of four cases in one house related to the congregation was traced, DM South Delhi B M Mishra said.

Over 2,000 delegates, including from Indonesia and Malaysia, attended the Tabligh-e-Jamaat congregation in Nizamuddin West from March 1-15, as the south Delhi neighbourhood was virtually sealed earlier following fears that some people may have contracted COVID-19. The civic authorities have carried out mass sanitisation and disinfection drive in hotspot areas in the past several days using drones and other measures.

An order has been issued regarding testing of samples of the community under surveillance, people under quarantine and contacts of COVID-19 patients and patients admitted in hospitals, the Delhi health department said in a statement. Meanwhile, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan took a meeting to review arrangements for treatment of non-COVID-19 patients admitted in various hospitals in Delhi, it said.

House-to-house surveillance activities are being carried out in identified cluster containment zones, and a total of 2,983 samples have been collected from different clusters and sent for testing, it said. According to the Delhi Health Department, out of the total 1,707 cases recorded so far, at least 911 are admitted at various hospitals like LNJP Hospital, GTB Hospital, RML Hospital, Safdarjung Hospital and Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital (RGSSH) and AIIMS Jhajjhar, adding 27 of them are in ICU and six on ventilators.

Total number of COVID-19 samples sent till date stands at 21,409 the Delhi Health Department said in the statement. As many as 2,615 have been kept in quarantine at various government facilities, it said. As many as 31,247 people who came in contact with affected persons, are under home quarantine till date and 19,342 have completed their 14-day quarantine, they said.