Operation Shield to be implemented in several new coronavirus hotspots in Delhi: CM Arvind Kejriwal

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Updated: Apr 12, 2020 19:55 IST

Delhi government is planning to implement Operation Shield in the national capital for the effective containment of coronavirus. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Sunday that several new areas will be declared containment zones in addition to the 33 Covid-19 hotspots that have already been sealed by the state administration.

Kejriwal said all the containment zones will now be brought under Operation Shield which was first implemented successfully in Dilshad Garden in East Delhi.

“We had experimented at Dilshad Garden when one foreign returned woman had turned positive and infected six or seven other people who came in contact with her. We then sealed the entire area. Operation shield was implemented there,” Kejriwal said.

Explaining what Operation Shield meant, chief minister Kejriwal said an area under the programme is completely sealed and the movement of people in and out of that area is banned. Administration takes over the supply of essential services including grocery in the area and an extensive sanitization drive is launched within its perimeter.

“All the steps taken under Operation Shield resulted in no new cases of Coronavirus being reported from the area (Dilshad Garden) in the past 10 days,” he said.

Kejriwal said all new areas in Delhi with a rising number of infections are being identified and will be soon declared containment zones where Operation Shield will come into effect.

“Our team has identified several new areas apart from the existing 33 or 35 which will be declared containment zones in the next couple of days. Operation Shield will be enforced in this area in a very strict manner,” Kejriwal said.

Delhi chief minister said he recognized that the containment measures had inconvenienced people a great deal but added that it was important to stop the spread of the disease.

“We have seen that 2000 people have died in America in the last 24 hours, we don’t want a repeat of this horrifying situation in Delhi,” he said while presenting the rationale for bringing more and more areas into the Operation Shield fold.

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