Delhi govt plans ward-wise mapping of COIVD-19 cases to ease restrictions in parts of city

With the Delhi government planning to categorise COVID-19 cases by wards instead of districts, parts of the national capital are likely to be out of the 'red zone' classification and expect lockdown relaxations after May 3, sources said on Friday.

Currently, the Union Health Ministry has designated the entire national capital, which has 11 districts, a 'red zone' in its new classification. The city has 272 wards.

The sources said Lt Governor Anil Baijal has directed the authorities to come up with a detailed plan on ward-wise mapping of red, orange and green zones.

According to an official, an area with three or more cases of COVID-19 is declared a red zone while those with one or two cases are identified as orange zone.

The Centre on Friday announced that a "limited" lockdown, including suspension of inter-state travel, air and train services, will continue to remain in force for another two weeks throughout the country from May 4 but some activities would be allowed after classifying areas into red, orange and green zones.

In a meeting chaired by Baijal on Friday, Health Secretary Padmini Singla made a detailed analysis of spatial distribution of COVID-19 cases, containment zones and ward-wise mapping of red, orange and green zones.

"The Union Health Ministry designates any area as red, orange or green zone on district level. Delhi has only 11 districts and it is geographically different to other states.

"Once the ward-level categorisation plan is ready, it will be sent to the ministry for its approval. If we get permission, Delhi, which is entirely in red zone, will have orange and green zones as well," the sources said.

Baijal has asked the Health Department to develop an action plan to convert red zones into orange zones and green zones, and handhold field machineries in maintaining the green zones.

The sources said that for instance, Delhi, which currently has 100 containment zones, will have 37 orange zones and 63 red zones once the ward-level categorisation is complete.

"Total six lakh people are living in 100 containment zones and it is three per cent of the total population while one per cent of the total area has been declared containment zone.

"Only 11 containment zones have populations of 10,000 and above," the Health Department said in its presentation.

The LG directed all stakeholders to scale up their efforts to rein in the pandemic.

He advised field officials to delineate containment zones properly to ensure their effective management.

The number of coronavirus cases in Delhi increased to 3,515 on Thursday, with three fresh deaths being reported, according to data shared by the Delhi government.

Till Wednesday, the national capital recorded 3,439 cases and 56 fatalities.