No of containment zones in Delhi over 1K, likely to increase with more testing: officials

Medical workers treat patients infected with the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) at a hospital in New Delhi. Credit: Reuters

The number of containment zones has crossed 1,000 in the national capital according to Delhi government's data and is expected to rise further with increase in testing, officials said.

According to district officials, the number of containment zones might rise with the increase in the number of coronavirus screening tests being conducted and the consequent climb in the cases of the infection here.

Last month, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced that testing to determine the prevalence of Covid-19 will be doubled to 40,000 per day within a week as there has been a marginal increase in the number of coronavirus cases in the city.

The number of Covid-19 containment zones in Delhi rose from 539 on August 1 to 716 on August 27 and subsequently to 976 on September 5.

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It breached the 1,000 mark on September 6, when it reached 1,076 and subsequently increased to 1,114 the next day.

There were 437 containment zones marked in the city on July 1 and by July 31, it had risen to 692, according to official data.

On August 3, the containment zone count came down to 496.

However, since the last week of August, the number of containment zones has been steadily increasing.

On August 25, there were 654 containment zones or localised areas from where infections were reported. The number of containment zones rose to 763 on August 28, and then to 833 on August 31 and to 894 zones on September 2. By September 5, the containment zone count stood at 946.

The Delhi government has significantly ramped up testing in the past few days.

Barring August 31, when over 14,000 tests were conducted and 1,358 fresh cases reported, since August 30 daily case count has been recorded in excess of 2,000.

The number of tests conducted and corresponding fresh cases reported from August 30-September 6 in that order are: 14,389 tests (1,358 fresh cases); 20,437 (2,024); 24,198 (2,312); 28,835 (2,509); 32,834 (2,737); 36,219 (2,914) and 38,895 (2,973), 36,046 (3,256).

On September 7, the number of tests stood at 22,954 while 2,077 fresh cases were reported.