Containment zones have been introduced in Chamarajanagar district to prevent the spread of COVID-19 which is sweeping across the rural hinterland.
People testing positive but advised home isolation will be stamp marked lest they break the COVID-19 regulations and abet the spread of the pandemic.
While the first wave of the pandemic was staved off and restricted to urban centres of the district, the second wave has been relentless in its sweep and intensity, affecting rural areas as seen in the number of cases emerging from the hinterland.
Chamarajanagar Deputy Commissioner M.R. Ravi told media persons on Saturday that almost 79 per cent of the new cases that were reported in April emerged from rural areas or villages while only 21 per cent of the cases were reported from towns.
The district reported 3950 cases in April against which 3,120 cases were from rural areas and the remaining 830 cases were from urban areas.
An analysis of the cases from health experts indicated that the villages were reporting 8 to 10 or 15 cases over a two-day period unlike in the past and hence COVID-19 was now well entrenched and spreading across the district. Hence the district administration has announced that containment zones will be introduced based on the number of cases in a locality.
Any area in a radius of 100 metres in rural areas will be brought under the containment zone if it reports 5 or more COVID positive cases. In case there were 10 or more cases in a small village, the entire settlement will be cordoned off and declared as a containment zone. In case of a larger village the entire streets where the cases are reported will be declared as containment zones, said Mr. Ravi.
In towns across Chamarajanagar district, 10 or more COVID-19 positive cases will result in the entire ward being declared as a containment zone. All activities barring essential services will be suspended in the containment zones.
An analysis of the age group of the COVID-19 patients indicate that people above 60 years contracting the virus were relatively few and accounted for 10 per cent of the total cases. But they were also highly vulnerable and required hospitalisation and the fatality rate in this age group was also the highest.
Also, the positivity rate was high among those in the 18 years to 40 years age group. But the fatality rate was the lowest – 0.3 per cent. There are 1663 patients under home isolation but the district administration will assess if they have separate rooms to isolate themselves. If not, such people will be shifted to the COVID care centres till the completion of the quarantine period.
