Coronavirus: Shaheen Bagh new COVID-19 hotspot, containment zones in Delhi reach 60

Shaheen Bagh area in Delhi that remained a hotbed of the anti-CAA protests for nearly 100 days has become one of the COVID-19 hotspots in Delhi. The Delhi government identified areas like street no. 6, A Block, Abu Fazal enclave and Street nos. 3-5, East Ram Nagar, Shahdara as the new containment zones. With these new containment zones being identified, the number of containment zones in Delhi has now reached 60.

Services like home delivery of essential items and medical emergencies are allowed in these zones as mentioned by the Home Ministry guidelines issued on April 15. The ministry states, "there shall be stricter perimeter control to ensure that there is no unchecked inward/outward movement of population from these zones."

Apart from delivery of essentials at the doorstep and restrictions on movement, the authorities will also conduct door-to-door screening for symptomatic people as per the Centre's cluster containment strategy and Delhi government's Operation Shield.

As of April 16, Delhi has classified 9 districts as hotspots with large COVID-19 outbreaks. These districts include South, South East, Shahdara, West, North, Central, New Delhi, East and South West. Delhi has recorded a total of 1,640 coronavirus positive cases and 38 deaths today as per the Health Ministry data. India's count of coronavirus positive cases has reached 11,201 whereas 437 people have died as of today.

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