600 teams each for districts with 300+ cases

Ghaziabad: Districts in the state have been directed to complete the task of containment, including sealing and sanitisation, the day a Covid-19 case is reported, as any delay could increase pendency and strain resources. Health departments have also been asked to ensure all people identified by surveillance teams are tested for the disease within 24 hours.

UP has a total of 75 districts. At least 600 containment teams each will be formed in districts like GB Nagar, Ghaziabad, Firozabad, Rampur, Jaunpur, Hapur and Bulandshahr, where more than 300 cases have been reported. In districts like Baghpat, Badaun, Hathras, Mathura, Mainpuri, Shahjahanpur, Etawah, Auraiya, Kushinagar, Ghazipur, Mirzapur, Chandauli, Mahoba and Lalitpur, where the compounded daily growth rate has been over 5% in the past 15 days, nearly 400 teams will be formed. In the remaining districts, at least 300 teams will be formed.

The district surveillance officer has been asked to share details of patients with the immunisation officer daily.

For areas with one case, the containment zone is formed in a 250-metre radius, and for those with more than one case, the radius is extended to 500 metres. According to estimates based on the current average population density of the region, about 300 houses will fall in an area of 250-metre radius, while 1,200 houses will come under the 500-metre radius. This is an estimated number for the urban areas and there could be a variation on the basis of district and region.

While four teams will be deployed for 300 houses in a day, 16 others will be roped in for the 1,200 homes. Each team will have three members comprising staff from the health department, civic body and local administration.

Officials said that the pulse polio “microplan” will form the basis for the containment activities. The teams will carry out house-to-house survey, sensitise people about Covid symptoms and identify those with cough, cold, fever and breathlessness. The DSO or the nodal officer for sample collection will ensure testing for all such people.

The list of containment zones will be updated every day at 6pm and provided to the district magistrate and the senior superintendent of police.

Meanwhile, the Ghaziabad administration on Monday deployed 3,048 booth-level officers (BLOs) and 237 supervisors for spreading awareness about Covid-19. An action plan has been put in place to collect information on patients with severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) and influenza-like illness (ILI). The BLOs will also keep track of those with comorbidities and report sensitive cases to their supervisors.