Govt directs DSUs to focus on establishing transmission chains for isolated cases

New Delhi: Now that the massive exercise of remapping containment zones has been done in the Capital, the Delhi Health Department on Wednesday said that in addition to the areas already marked for containment, cluster cases had been identified and converted into containment zones. As per the latest bulletin, Delhi now has 458 containment zones.

However, the Delhi government also issued detailed instructions on how to surveil and keep track of infections in areas which are reporting isolated cases regularly. For this, the District Surveillance Unit has been directed to "extract COVID-19 positives, relevant to the respective areas and map the cases in terms of Time and Geographical location".

In addition, the DSUs have been asked to specifically trace the epidemiological links to these cases so that transmission chains can be established. Moreover, the Delhi government has given DSUs a deadline of 72 hours to complete contact tracing of such cases and ensure house-to-house surveys in these areas to identify SARI/ILI patients.

The Health Department added that High-Risk Group individuals in containment zones, buffer zones and areas with isolated cases should be enlisted along with all their contacts and screening of all enlistees must be done. It also created a Special Surveillance Group comprising "rickshaw/auto and taxi walas and goods carriage lorry walas. Maids, daily workers (plumbers, electricians, carpenters, and mechanics)," along with daily suppliers like food and grocery employees too and said local authorities should help in getting them enlisted for screening.

The Delhi government also said that areas, where these SSGs are likely to conglomerate, must also be covered in the screening process and such areas must be regularly sanitised and disinfected. Further, the order also said that SSGs visiting hospitals will be mandatorily tested for the virus much like High-Risk Groups.