Ahmedabad identifies 26 new COVID-19 micro containment zones

• The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) said that intense door-to-door surveillance will be carried out to detect new cases in these micro containment zones, where movement of people is restricted.
• These newly-identified areas took the number of micro-containment zones in the city to 84, where around 35,000 people live.
  
• The civic body said that two areas with an estimated population of 1,246 were removed from the list of micro containment zones, and 26 areas, where 5,988 people reside, were added after fresh COVID-19 cases were reported from there.

In a bid to contain the spread of coronavirus, the Ahmedabad civic body in Gujarat has identified 26 new micro containment zones in the city, which is the biggest COVID-19 hotspot in the state. The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) said that intense door-to-door surveillance will be carried out to detect new cases in these micro containment zones, where movement of people is restricted.

These newly-identified areas took the number of micro-containment zones in the city to 84, where around 35,000 people live.

The civic body said that two areas with an estimated population of 1,246 were removed from the list of micro containment zones, and 26 areas, where 5,988 people reside, were added after fresh COVID-19 cases were reported from there.

"There were 60 existing micro containment areas in Ahmedabad. After detailed discussions, two areas were removed from that list and 26 new areas were added after fresh coronavirus cases were reported from there," the AMC said in a statement issued late on Friday.

Eight of these 26 newly-identified areas are in the West zone, which accounts for around 21 per cent of the active cases in the city.

Six micro containment areas are in the North-West zone of the city that is the second most-affected zone in the city with around 16 per cent active cases.

East and South-West zones have four of these micro containment zones, while the Central zone has one, the civic body said.

Intense door-to door surveillance will be carried out in these newly identified areas and suspected cases will be tested, it added.

This new micro containment zones were identified even as the city's number of daily coronavirus cases has seen a drop recently.

During the 'Unlock-1', the civic body had decided to identify "micro containment zones" or areas as small as a residential society where cases of coronavirus have been reported.

Till Friday evening, 20,689 COVID-19 positive cases and 1,411 deaths were reported in Ahmedabad city. KA PD NP NP