Delhi Identifies 'Emerging Hotspots' to Check Covid-19 Spread; Connaught Place, Lajpat Nagar on List

Health authorities in Delhi have identified Connaught Place, Lajpat Nagar, Laxmi Nagar, Model Town, and Paschim Vihar as “emerging hotspots” based on the caseload in these areas. Thirty-three areas have been designated as “emerging hotspots” by the national capital’s administration in order to draw out a strategy with a focused response system for Covid-19 containment.

According to a report in Hindustan Times, this is a part of the AAP government’s heightened focus on micro-surveillance with active novel coronavirus cases in the national capital rising by more than 170% in a month, i.e., from 11,426 on August 21 to 30,941 on September 21.

The spike in infections is primarily because of ramped-up testing efforts, with the Delhi government undertaking 135,723 tests per million as on Monday as opposed to 73,312 tests per million on August 21.

A top official, who did not wish to be named, told the publication that the revenue department compiled a list of Covid-19 hot spots in each of Delhi’s 11 districts based on the caseload reported between September 1 and 16, after the meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Friday.

It has come to fore that a lot of market areas or commercial hubs such as CP, Karol Bagh and South Extension have seen an uptick in cases, the official added.

The report, which was accessed by HT, mentions Rohini Sector 3 in the northwest district as the largest hotspot with 2,192 coronairus cases. Rohini Sector 3 makes up for close to 43% of the cumulative cases reported in the northwest district, which is also a district which has the maximum number of coronavirus infections. With 1,739 cases, the second biggest hot spot is Pitampura which is also part of northwest district. Tailing it are Paschim Vihar in west Delhi with 1,101 cases and Uttam Nagar (1,071) in southwest Delhi. Notably, all the top four hot spots comprise middle class and upper-middle class residential localities, along with some unauthorised colonies and slums.

“Containment activities, testing and surveillance have been increased in Paschim Vihar, Hari Nagar and Tilak Nagar (including Vishnu Garden) – the three hot spots identified in the district,” district magistrate (west), Neha Bansal was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, the national capital’s COVID-19 case count rose to over 2.53 lakh on Tuesday with 3,816 more people contracting the viral disease, while 37 fresh deaths pushed the death toll to 5,051, according to the Delhi health department bulletin.

The number of active cases on Tuesday climbed to 31,263 from 30,941 on the previous day. The death toll from COVID-19 in Delhi stood at 5,014 on Monday. The Tuesday bulletin said that the death toll due to the coronavirus infection has risen to 5,051 and the total number of cases has climbed to 2,53,075.