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Delhi: Southwest district magistrate’s office reports three Covid-19 cases

Hindustan Times, New Delhi | By, New Delhi
Apr 30, 2020 05:55 AM IST

As per the Delhi government’s rules, an area has to be declared a containment zone if three or more Covid-19 cases are reported from there.

At a time when local administrations in each of the 11 districts of Delhi are pulling out all stops to contain the spread of coronavirus disease (Covid-19), the southwest district administration Wednesday suffered a setback with three officials in the district magistrate (DM)’s office testing positive for the coronavirus infection. This is the first instance of cases being reported from a DM’s office, Delhi health officials said.

As per the Delhi government’s rules, an area has to be declared a containment zone if three or more Covid-19 cases are reported from there. “As soon as a place reports three positive cases, our officials declare the identified area as a containment zone. As of today, 90 of the 100 containment zones in Delhi have not reported any new Covid-19 case. So, our strict containment policy has helped prevent the spread of the virus,” Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain said, during his daily media briefing Wednesday.

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When asked if this meant that the southwest DM’s office, too, would become a containment zone, a senior government official said that would not be possible as all Covid-19 management activities in that district are being carried out from the office complex.

A senior official in the southwest DM’s office who is authorised to speak to the media, said their office is functioning as usual.

“The entire office complex has been sanitised and social distancing is being maintained,” the official said.

As a precautionary measure, DM (south-west) Rahul Singh has put himself in home quarantine, while 17 others, who were in close contact with the first official who tested positive, have been kept under observation at the Chaudhary Brahm Prakash Ayurvedic Hospital, which is a dedicated Covid-19 health centre.

The disease spread in the DM’s office come to fore Sunday night when Singh’s personal secretary tested positive for Covid-19. “On Wednesday, we received the test reports of 17 others from DM’s office. Unfortunately, two civil defence volunteers have tested positive for Covid-19. Both are contacts of the first case (personal secretary to the DM),” the official said.

The administration said contact tracing is currently being done and samples will be collected of their primary contacts.

“The personal secretary, who was the first case from this office, is likely to have contracted the infection from Uttam Nagar. That’s where he lives and that area also has reported a number of Covid-19 cases. So, preliminary findings indicate that the virus was contracted from his area of residence. The 17 other staff members will be in isolation for the next few days before returning to work,” the official said.

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