Gujarat govt adopts cluster containment plan in select COVID-19 hotspots

The Gujarat government on Tuesday decided to implement a cluster containment plan across 15 localities in these four cities, a week ahead of the national lockdown ends on April 14.

Ahmedabad (Gujarat): With the growing incidence of coronavirus infection in certain localities in Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar, Vadodara and Surat, the Gujarat government on Tuesday decided to implement a cluster containment plan across 15 localities in these four cities, a week ahead of the national lockdown ends on April 14.

Adoption of the action plan means enforcing a complete lockdown of these areas, a senior Health department official said.

With 31 of the 39 new cases being reported from these 15 localities in the last two days till Monday, the state government has come up with an action plan.

Of the 15 localities, eight areas are located in Ahmedabad, three in Surat and two each in Vadodara and Bhavnagar.

"The cluster containment strategy being adopted by the state government includes putting these areas under complete lockdown, intensive surveying for possible suspicious cases and adopting measures to treat them," said Principal Secretary (Health) Jayanti Ravi.

Ravi said the main focus of the action plan is to prevent the spread of the coronavirus to other areas.

"A total of fifteen locations in the state have been identified for the cluster containment plan, including eight in Ahmedabad, three in Surat, two each in Vadodara and Bhavnagar," Ravi told reporters.

She said the measures to be implemented included enforcing a complete lockdown in these localities, besides sealing of geographical areas so that nobody could move in and out.

"The plan also includes enhanced active surveillance and testing, and sanitisation," the senior bureaucrat said.

Surveillance will be stepped up and testing will be augmented, including for the contacts of the coronavirus positive cases, as well as other residents within the hotspots, she said.

"In a meeting chaired by Chief Minister it was noted that in the last two days 39 cases were reported positive. It was noted that 31 out of the 39 cases are concentrated in particular localities."

"A detailed action plan has been prepared to contain the spread of coronavirus from these hotspot localities which includes a strict lockdown in the areas," Ravi said.

"In order to contain the coronavirus from spreading to other areas, concerted action will be taken. Contacts of positive cases have been placed under isolation. Entire localities will be sanitised," she said.

Ravi also said that intense surveillance will be done with the help of the police, health staff and officers of civic bodies.

On Monday, Secretary to the Chief Minister, Ashwani Kumar said that some attendees of the Nizamuddin congregation held in Delhi last month have tested positive in ten of these fifteen hotspot areas.

Six localities in Ahmedabad, two in Vadodara, one each in Surat and Bhavnagar have been placed under cluster quarantine by authorities as a measure to contain the spread of coronavirus after the positive cases were detected among the attendees, Kumar had told reporters.

PTI Report