The West Bengal government has
decided to step up surveillance in slum areas in and around the metropolis to ensure implementation of lockdown norms, an official said on Wednesday.
The identification process of such areas is now complete, he said.
"These slums have quite a good number of people living there. They use common facilities such as toilets and washing areas. Also, these places have very narrow lanes and chances of the spread of COVID-19 are high. Therefore, adhering to the lockdown is critical," the health department official said, without giving details of the slums identified.
The state government has also opened 'fever clinics' in several hospitals across the city.
As a part of measures of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), officials will be visiting these slum areas to find out if people exhibited symptoms of COVID-19.
As many as 17 people have tested positive for coronavirus in West Bengal over the last 24 hours, taking the number of active cases to 132, the state government said earlier in the day. Seven people have so far died due to the contagion.
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