Delhi: Districts ramp up testing, tracing again

According to senior officials, random Covid testing will restart at Metro stations and places that see high footfall like markets, bus stops and railways stations after the DDMA meeting on April 20.

Between March 31 and April 14, Haryana added 1,211 fresh infections to its Covid tally, analysis of data from the state health department showed. During the same period, Gurgaon added 1,022 fresh cases. (File)

With daily Covid cases crossing the 300-mark for the second day in a row in the capital, district authorities have ramped up testing, contact tracing and vaccination campaigns.

According to senior officials, random Covid testing will restart at Metro stations and places that see high footfall like markets, bus stops and railways stations after the DDMA meeting on April 20. A senior official from the Southeast district said they are expecting fresh guidelines will be issued, which will reimpose fines for not wearing masks and enforcement drives.

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“Presently, we are following ICMR guidelines. We have alerted the district surveillance officer and SDMs to closely monitor positive cases in the district and start contact tracing. Once contacts are traced, they will be immediately kept under home isolation,” said the official.

The official added: “Cases increased after the fine for not wearing masks was revoked (from April 1)… Amidst the rise in cases, we expect fines to be back.”

The Northwest district has also ramped up testing in government dispensaries and deployed mobile vans to boost community testing. “Tests never stopped, only the numbers declined owing to fewer cases. We have also instructed health teams to boost random testing at crowded places,” said a senior official from the district.

The official said home isolation and micro-containment of positive cases are already in place. The modus operandi of the health teams is to analyse the number of cases and come up with a plan for areas that see a spike. Later, they deploy mobile vans for tests and make announcements in such areas regarding testing, he said.

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“During the peak, we had deployed mobile vans and enforcement teams for testing and contact tracing in 8-10 locations. It was reduced to 4-5 when cases came down. Now, we have decided to increase them to 10-12 next week.

Vaccines and booster dose campaigns are in full swing. From next week, we will implement strict enforcement of measures that were in place during the omicron wave,” added the official.

An official from Shahdara district also said they have increased testing centres and started micro-containing houses with more than one case.

Traders, meanwhile, raised apprehensions on the spike. Ashok Randhawa, president, Sarojini Nagar Mini Market Association, said: “Ever since the government lifted fines, 80% shoppers don’t wear masks. Random checking and testing should restart because our business is just getting back on track and markets and traders are the first to suffer when cases go up.”

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As per the daily health bulletin, the city has 683 containment zones while 685 people are under home isolation.

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