Cabinet Secy reviews COVID crisis in 13 worst-affected cities accounting for 70% of cases

Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba held a meeting with Municipal Commissioners, District Magistrates of 13 major COVID-19 hit cities to take a review of the situation prevailing in these areas. Chief Secretaries of the concerned States and Union Territories also attended the meeting. These 13 cities are considered to be the worst affected cities by the Coronavirus and account for almost 70% of the total 1,58,333 COVID-19 cases reported in the country so far. 

The 13 focus cities are Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi / New Delhi, Ahmedabad, Thane, Pune, Hyderabad, Kolkata / Howrah, Indore (Madhya Pradesh), Jaipur, Jodhpur, Chengalpattu and Thiruvallur (Tamil Nadu). The central government has already issued guidelines on the management of COVID-19 in urban settlements.

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State govts to demarcate containment zones effectively

The meeting held also included a review on the work on high-risk factors, indices such as confirmation rate, fatality rate, doubling rate, tests per million people etc. In the guidelines issued by the Centre for the fourth phase of lockdown, it allowed states and Union Territories to distinguish containment zones on their own.

The Union Government has stressed that these containment zones are to be geographically defined based on factors like mapping of cases and contacts and their geographical dispersion. This would enable in demarcating a well-defined perimeter and enforcing the strict protocol of lockdown. 

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Municipal corporations can decide if residential colonies, mohallas, municipal wards or police-station areas, municipal zones, towns can be designated as containment zones, as required. The focus cities were advised that the area should be appropriately defined by the district administration and local urban body with technical inputs from the local level.

Earlier in the day, Gauba also held a meeting with all the Chief Secretaries via a video conference as the fourth phase of lockdown nears an end. 

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