Published 17:39 IST, July 6th 2020
Kolkata restructures containment zones; only 18 zones in city and 1872 'isolation units'
Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), on Sunday, restructured 18 containment zones, classifying others as 'isolation units', as Coronavirus cases rise in city
In a major reshuffle of containment zones in Kolkata, the local civic body - Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), on Sunday, restructured 18 containment zones, classifying others as 'isolation units'. According to West Bengal Health Dept's website, the city's 18 containment zones are those which have multiple COVID-19 cases and are reportedly high-rises and apartments. On the other KMC has classified 1872 micro-units, terming them 'isolation units', which has one or more cases.
Kolkata's 18 containment zones
As per official data, most of the containment zones are South Kolkata -four in Bhawanipore, two each in Baghbazar, Kankurgachi, Alipore, Ultadanga and one each in Panitiya road, Tollygunge, Indrapuri studio, Mukundapur, Gariahat and Lake road. No slums have reportedly been included in the new containment zones.
Sources state that Kolkata police will guard the entry-exit gates of the 'containment zones' which have been cordoned off. No outsiders will be allowed to enter or exit these containment zones. But for an isolation unit, only those residing inside it will not be allowed to come out. Police will reportedly fix timings for markets in containment zones, if needed and will also provide food in these affected areas.
Kolkata bars flights from 6 hotspots
In a bid to curb COVID-19 cases, Kolkata airport on Saturday, barred flights from Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Chennai & Ahmedabad to Kolkata. The airport authorities said that flights from these six cities have been banned from 6th to 19th July 2020 or till further orders. West Bengal saw its highest surge on Sunday with 244 of the 757 new infections reported from Kolkata only. With the new cases, the state's infection tally reached 22,126.
ICMR: 14% of Kolkata have anti-bodies
Recently ICMR has found that over 14 per cent of Kolkata residents have developed COVID-19 antibodies. According to senior doctors, the survey indicated that the transmission is high in the metropolis, which is far from developing herd immunity or antibodies to combat COVID-19. In neighbouring South 24-Parganas district, it is 2.5 per cent while it is 1 per cent in Alipurduar district, the survey said while less than 1 per cent of antibody positivity rates have been found in districts of Purba Medinipur, Bankura and Jhargram.
Updated 17:39 IST, July 6th 2020