Emerging coronavirus hotspots identified in Delhi; CP, Lajpat on list
To get ahead of the coronavirus curve, the Delhi government has identified 33 areas as "emerging hotspots". Localities like Connaught Place, Lajpat Nagar, Model Town, Laxmi Nagar, and Paschim Vihar featured on the list, HT reported. Officials in the know said the hotspots were identified on the basis of the caseload. It was understood that market areas/commercial hubs have a high number of cases.
Last Friday, DDMA held a meeting, subsequently list was prepared
The decision to label hotspots was taken in last Friday's meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), an anonymous source told the daily. Taking into account the spread of cases between September 1 and 16, the revenue department, prepared the extensive list for the 11 districts, the person added. The data suggested market hubs are seeing a steady rise in coronavirus cases.
Rohini Sector 3 is the biggest hotspot, followed by Pitampura
According to the findings of the state government, Rohini Sector 3 is the biggest hotspot with 2,192 coronavirus cases, accounting for nearly 43% cases in the Northwest district. It is followed by Pitampura, having 1,739 cases. Paschim Vihar with 1,101 coronavirus cases and Uttam Nagar with 1,071 cases were also named as hotspots. Most of these areas house middle class and upper-middle-class families.
The spike is directly proportional to people's movements
Besides the commercial hubs, places like Indraprastha Extension, Delhi Cantonment, Mukherjee Nagar, and the President's Estate were also classified as problematic areas. Dr. Puneet Mishra, professor of community medicine at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) blamed the unlocking of Delhi for this trend. The spike in these places was driven by the fact that low, middle, and high income groups resumed movements.
From congested areas, coronavirus spreading to better societies
Dr. Mishra spoke of the changing trends in Delhi, saying earlier the infection was restricted to congested places like Nabi Karim, Chandni Mahal, and Okhla, as well as parts of North East Delhi. "Now it is spreading in the middle-class and upper-middle-class localities because these people earlier remained in their homes and now have started moving out. It was inevitable," he explained.
Identifying hotspots is an ideal way, feel experts
Appreciating Delhi government's move of identifying hotspots, Dr. Lalit Kant, ex-head of epidemiology and infectious disease at ICMR, said this gives administration an upper hand as far as tracing, testing, and isolating are concerned. "Automatically, these areas then become the places where one will find a higher number of containment zones. It also helps in identifying and breaking down COVID-19 clusters," he added.
Worryingly, Delhi's coronavirus cases rose by 170% in one month
Notably, Delhi is once again burdened by a rise in COVID-19 cases. On August 21, the city had 11,426 cases, which rose to 30,941 on September 21 — a spike of 170% in one month. The state government credited more testing for this surge. As on Monday, 135,723 tests/million were conducted, up from 73,312 tests per million on August 21.
