Delhi Covid surge mostly among young, containment zone strategy better than total lockdown, says AIIMS Chief

The Covid surge that brought the second wave of the pandemic in the country has reached the national capital. Delhi witnessed a record high of close to 2,000 cases in around three-and-half months and private hospital running out of hospital beds. AIIMS director Dr Randeep Guleria found that most of the patients belong to the younger lot and are experiencing “milder symptoms.”

Talking to the Indian Express Dr Guleria said that even though the infection is spreading in the younger population now, it does not mean it cannot spread to the elderly and trigger “serious symptoms”. Asking everyone to stay vigilant, he said that if spreading of infection to the elder lot can again put a strain on the healthcare resources in the capital.

However, Dr Guleria ruled out the necessity of imposing another lockdown in the metro and called for designating more containment zones to contain the spread of the infection.

Talking about the rise in need for hospitalisation, he assured that with an increase in the number of patients that the hospital is not running out of beds yet, but if cases spiral following the current trend it can be. Cause of concern to accommodate more.

Delhi has been witnessing more than 1, 500 cases for the past five days. On Sunday there were 1, 881 fresh cases, 1, 558 on Saturday and 1, 534 cases on Friday. Last Tuesday the number of cases was relatively low, 992 but also because testing was less due to Holi on Monday. Delhi is now in the top 10 states in India in the Covid tally.

Talking about the second wave Dr Guleria said that it is in the hands of the common people how big they want to make it. The cases will increase for some time due to a surge in neighbouring states after which it will decline, he added.

As for introducing a new strategy to contain the spread, he insisted on the testing, tracking and treatment plan and develop micro-containment zones so that the infection is contained from spreading to other parts of Delhi. However, he cannot see that happening immediately. As the cases currently are not that high, Dr Guleria finds that the authorities should identify the cluster and develop it into a containment zone.

On the effectiveness of Lockdown, he pressed on the idea of localised lockdown where everyone in a containment zone is tested and isolated so that they do not end up spreading the disease to other areas.