Dr Randeep Guleria, chief of Delhi’s All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, today emphasized the need for mini containment zones, which should function similarly to areas under lockdown, after the second Covid wave pushed the daily surge past 1 lakh for the first time in the country. Dr. Guleria, a key member of the government’s Covid Task Force, described the situation as “very concerning.”
Given the previous year’s experience, a nationwide lockdown is no longer considered an option. Not only had the economy suffered, but thousands of migrant workers had been left without work overnight, giving the opposition a powerful tool against the BJP-led Central government.
So far, some of the 10 states that are driving the surge have opted for partial lockdowns. Maharashtra, which is again suffering the worst, has declared weekend lockdowns and night curfews.
Dr Guleria suggested that containment zones, introduced last year as the lockdown was phased out, be used again as a strategy to contain the virus. The containment zones, he said, should be like “mini lockdown so people cannot go out and a lot of testing tracking and isolation should be going on in these areas. Everyone who are in close contact (of patients) should be tested aggressively”.
Pointing out that the rate of rise in daily Covid figures is “very steep” compared to the last time, he said, “The figures crossed 1 lakh in a very short period of time and therefore we need some aggressive things and need to have a strategy in place”.