The Delhi government on Thursay added three more area to the list of containment zones, taking the total number of areas to 60. (Photo: PTI)

The Operation SHIELD launchd by the Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi in the Covid-19 hotspots are now showing better results.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia told India Today, "The government is declaring more hotspots and there is a situation of improvement and numbers for the spread of coronaivurs positive cases in sealed areas."



Operation SHIELD was successful in two more hotspots in Delhi- Vasundhara Enclave and Khichripur. Both the areas were sealed on March 31 and no new cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in the areas for the last 15 days.

One positive patient was found in Mansara apartment, Vasundhara Enclave due to which the area was sealed on March 31. Before testing positive, the patient had accessed common utilities of the apartment complex. Under the Operation SHIELD launched by the Delhi government, door-to-door checks of 188 homes were conducted.

Similarly, two Covid-19 cases were found in three lanes of Khichripur due to which the areas were sealed on March 31. It is a densely populated area with a risk of spread. Door-to-door surveys were conducted by health teams in 398 homes.

The key aspects of Operation SHIELD in a containment area are sealing, home quarantine, isolation and tracking, essential supply, local sanitisation and door-to-door health checks. All these aspects were implemented diligently by the Delhi government.

The Operation SHIELD was successfully applied in Dilshad Garden area for the first time. The Delhi government has marked around 57 areas as containment zones to stop the spread of coronavirus.

While people within the containment area cannot leave the area for any essential supplies, the Delhi government has set up a team of nodal officers for food, ration, medical supplies, etc. for each containment zone and has distributed their numbers to all the residents. Also, a local point within the containment area is identified where every morning daily supplies are provided and residents come and get them while maintaining social distancing.

Gali number 4, Kishan Kunj Extension, East Delhi is one such is where a person was found Covid-19 positive after his death. Later, six of his family members also got infected with Covid-19. The Delhi government immediately sealed the whole area, declared it as a containment zone and initiated Operation SHIELD.

The Delhi government officials who are responsible to look after this area have formed a WhatsApp group of all the residents where they can put out their requests and the government is ensuring a speedy delivery of the same.

The government officials have also provided contact numbers of concerned officials, relief centres, hunger relief centre and other essential people or places. If the residents of this area are unable to reach out to these contact points then they visit the local officer-in-charge of the area and the concerned team immediately takes care of the demands.

The nodal officer in Kishan Kunj extension said, "We are ensuring all essential services to the people who are staying inside this containment zone. In this area, none of the residents are allowed to go outside but they can come till a point where the officials stay available 24x7. We have formed a WhatsApp group and all the residents of this area are being added in that group. We have provided all the important numbers of officials and the essential service providers."

"The residents mention their demands in that WhatsApp group and we immediately ensure the services. In case if they are unable to reach out to us over the WhatsApp then they come and meet the designated officials at the border of this area. We take note of the demands and immediately arrange the services from the local suppliers. After arranging the essential commodities, we sanitise and disinfect the person concerned and then handover the essential goods," he added.

The Delhi government on Thursay added three more area to the list of containment zones, taking the total number of areas to 60. No residents, excluding essential workers, are allowed to enter or exit these areas. Meanwhile, health care workers are conducting door-to-door screening of the area's residents.

The operation mainly involves sealing of hotspot areas, identifying and quarantining suspected cases or contact cases, ensuring doorstep delivery of essential services and door-to-door checking of people to check for asymptomatic cases or those with mild symptoms.