‘Complete lockdown’ plan for 10 Covid-19 hotspots in West Bengal

Akshaya Patra | TNN| 11 April 2020 | KOLKATA: The state government has already gone into heavy-duty planning to cut off 10 hotspots in the state in the coming week. These are places from where Covid-19 positive cases have been reported over the last three weeks.

On Friday, chief secretary Rajiva Sinha held a video conference with Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) representatives and those from the districts to assess the areas and the population, identify the entry-exit points before going for a “complete lockdown” at these places.
“We are not naming the areas because it may spread panic among the locals. But we have identified eight to 10 places as of now,” Sinha said at Nabanna. Stretches of Alipore, Panditiya Road, Mudiali, Bhowanipore, Burrabazar, Nayabad in Kolkata and parts of Shibpur in Howrah, Belgharia in North 24 Parganas, Egra in East Midnapore and Kalimpong are under state surveillance.
The chief secretary threw some light on the identification of hotspots. “A particular road or a lane and the population around it may be identified as a hotspot in the city. The neighbourhood adjacent to it may be announced as a cluster. In districts, a village may be declared as a hotspot, the gram panchayat a cluster and the block under which the village falls may be announced a suspect zone,” the chief secretary explained at Nabanna on Friday.
The “complete lockdown” protocol would be stricter by a few notches than the general lockdown now in place. It would be a curfew-like situation in hotspots where no one will be allowed to leave home.
The enforcement will require heavy policing, barricading the entry-exit points of the locality and setting up of police outposts. In such a situation where people won’t have any access to groceries and markets, the state has to make arrangements for doorstep delivery.
“We are not going to that extent at the moment. But yes, local markets have to be closed down in hotspots and shifted elsewhere. The state will provide everything to people,” the chief secretary said. “This step will cause inconvenience for the people of that locality but we are left with no other alternative if we want to contain the virus before it spreads like wildfire,” Sinha said.
The enforcement side apart, the state has to increase random tests in the hotspots under the revised guideline issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The new ICMR guideline says that health workers have to conduct tests on people having fever, cough and cold for seven days. The ICMR prescription is way ahead of the present treatment protocol in which people are sent for Covid-19 tests by doctors only if they have symptoms. The new rule will require the state to leverage its test kits and health resources to the hotspots. Tests conducted in the hotspots would be much higher than the total 2,095 swab samples tested across the state in the last few weeks.
The chief secretary, however, urged people not to panic because the general trend of corona cases so far is within normal limits. “Fresh cases in Bengal have been hovering between eight and 12 during the last one week. We are not complacent. We are prepared to take on the challenge,” Sinha said. Twelve fresh cases were reported on Friday while three were released after treatment.
(Courtesy, source and link- Times of India-  https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/complete-lockdown-plan-for-10-covid-19-hotspots/articleshow/75088484.cms )


Pritesh Basu | MP | 10 April 2020 | Kolkata: The state government has decided to ensure "complete lockdown" by imposing restrictions on even entry and exit of persons at all the areas identified as "hotspots" to check the spread of COVID-19.

There are nine to 10 such areas but the state government has not yet named them considering a panic situation. This comes a day ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with all the Chief Ministers, including Mamata Banerjee in which a decision on the extension of the lockdown across the country may be taken.

Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha on Friday said: "We have to take stricter steps at the identified hotspots. An almost complete lockdown has to be imposed."

No one will be allowed to enter or exit the hotspots during the complete lockdown. At the same time, there are provisions for shifting of markets out of those hotspots, with even the local administration being given the power to take a call on the closure of markets and roads in the areas. It would be same for hotspots in both rural and urban areas. The local authorities are taking all measures to impose the set restrictions and at the same time ensuring that people, who are in those hotspots, do not face any problem in getting food, medicines and other essential commodities.

Sinha further stated: "These measures are not pleasant ones. It will increase inconvenience but we do not have any other choice. We are forced to go for the complete lockdown as we don't want the disease to spread like wildfire. We seek cooperation in this regard."

Explaining the methods taken up by the state government in confining the disease within the identified areas, the Chief Secretary said: "If a village is identified as a hotspot then the entire Gram Panchayat, within which the village is situated, is getting considered as a cluster while people of the entire block will be in the list of those vulnerable to the disease. Based on the data, health workers would take all the necessary measures."

However, there is nothing to panic as there is no sharp rise in terms of positive cases in the state as it has been found that 8 to 12 persons on an average have tested positive every day in the past seven, eight days.

Sinha held a video conference with all concerned District Magistrates and Kolkata Municipal Corporation authorities in this regard.

The total number of positive cases in Bengal so far is 89 with 12 testing positive in the past 24 hours. Three persons were released from hospital after they tested negative to COVID-19 on Friday. The death toll in the state due to the disease stands at five so far as per the report of the audit committee.

The state government has set up 20 new quarantine centres taking its total number to 582. Currently, as many as 44,474 are in home quarantine. Sinha said various methods have been used to ensure that people remain in home quarantine for 14 days. However, there is no report of any more from Howrah District Hospital getting infected to the virus.

(Courtesy, Source and link- Millenium post - http://www.millenniumpost.in/kolkata/complete-lockdown-of-hotspots-state-govt-407120 )