Delhi adds 200 containment zones in just two days; total at 1,506

Delhi has been seeing a sharp increase in new coronavirus cases in the last two weeks, especially since March 23 when the daily tally crossed the 1,000 mark for the first time this year, and the number of containment zones is also seeing a rapid upward trend, with 800 added in less than a week.

While 1,558 cases -- the highest so far in 2021 -- were reported on Saturday, 200 zones were also added in two days till then.

The national capital city had reported 1,101 cases on Tuesday, 1,254 on Wednesday, 1,515 on Thursday, and 1,534 on Friday, as per Delhi Health Department data.

The positivity rate, since the first week of March, has been the highest in the northwest, the southeast and south districts, while east, central and northeast districts have not seen a significant rise. The northwest district recorded the highest - 3 per cent up from 0.69 per cent, while the southeast district was at 2.41 per cent, up from 0.9 per cent.

With increasing number of Covid-19 cases, the city has seen the number of containment zones, rise to 1,506, out of which around 800 have been added in last one week, and 200 in Friday and Saturday, the Health Department said.

The districts with the maximum containment zones are south (416), north (189) and west (181).

Meanwhile, the Delhi government has also increased testing, with around 90,000 being conducted daily since the last two days. As per a government report, 91,703 new tests were conducted in last 24 hours as on Saturday.

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Saturday had dismissed the possibility of imposing another lockdown, saying it was not a solution to check the coronavirus surge. He said that his department is following a micro-containment strategy and identifying all clusters from where two or more cases are being reported at a time.

The Delhi government has also started random testing (RAT/RT-PCR) of passengers, coming from states where Covid-19 cases are surging, at the airport, railway stations, ISBTs and alighting points for private buses.

--IANS

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