Lockdown measures cannot be violated in containment zones, mayor Firhad Hakim told councillors in a meeting on Monday.
Councillors should also follow distancing norms and desist from distributing relief themselves because it can lead to crowding, he said. The relief being given by the state government is adequate and councillors should alert the corporation or government officials if anyone needs relief material, Hakim said at the meeting.
At least 45 councillors attended the meeting. Most were from north and central Calcutta, which have reported close to 70 per cent of the city’s Covid-19 cases. More than 650 Covid-19 cases have been reported in the city so far, a Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC) official said.
A containment zone is an area surrounding a house, which has reported a Covid-19 positive patient. The lane or road in front of the house or the lane/road leading to it is considered a containment zone, the CMC official said.
Roughly 300-350 houses surrounding an affected house fall in a containment zone, another official said. Police have installed barricades and cut off entry/exit points to and from these zones, the official said.
There are more than 300 containment zones in the city now, a councillor who attended the meeting said. “The mayor said that strict lockdown measures must be continued in containment zones. There should be no relaxation in these zones. He asked us to see to it that strict distancing was maintained in places outside containment zones.”
Hakim said relief distribution often led to crowding and violation of distancing norms, another councillor said.
The state government has allowed certain relaxations in areas outside containment zones such as opening grocery shops and liquor stores.
“This could lead to people wanting to step out of containment zones. That has to be stopped, the mayor said. It was stressed at the meeting that people within containment zones cannot behave like areas outside it,” another councillor said.
In a containment zone, no one is allowed to go beyond the zone’s boundary, marked by police barricades, the councillor said.
Grocery and other essential items are supposed to be brought to the barricades for residents. “The seller will stand on one side of the barricade while the buyer on the other side. The seller cannot enter and the buyer cannot step out,” a CMC official said.
A containment zone is cut off from other places to ensure no one who might have been in contact with a positive patient ventures out and helps in the spread of the virus, a CMC official said.