CHENNAI: The number of containment zones in the Kodambakkam zone of Chennai corporation has gone up from only 13 on July 7 to 134 as on Sunday.
On July 8, the number went up from 13 to 124 and has since then grown marginally to come to 134 today. A majority of these containment zones were initiated in the last week of June or the first week of July.
While the steep rise may be a cause of worry for some residents in the zone, the data may not be an indication of increasing clusters.
For one, the city corporation has changed the definition for a containment zone. Earlier, an area would be declared a containment zone if it had five index cases or five or more families testing Covid positive.
Now, a senior corporation official said that a street would be made a containment zone if it had three households testing positive for the virus.
A senior official working on Covid 19 containment measures in Kodambakkam zone said, “ Going by this definition, technically, there may only be around 20 containment zones in Kodambakkam.”
“There are around 130 new cases which have come up in the containment zones and this may have been counted as separate containment zones. I will check how it has been calculated at 134,” the official added.
Officials in the zone said they had no idea how the containment zones in Kodambakkam were pegged at 134.
“I will consult my staff and check how the data is compiled and by what definition,” said a corporation official at the zone.
The zone has a total of 8491 total cases as of Sunday.
The total number of containment zones is at 276 with Tondiarpet having 50, Thiru Vi Ka Nagar having 11, Ambattur having six, Anna Nagar having 38, Teynampet having eight, Valasaravakkam having 13, Alandur having five, Adyar having nine and Sholinganallur, two.
Containment zones are barricaded areas where the movement of those residing within them are highly restricted. Shops within these zones will not function and volunteers will be assigned to help residents in
containment zones purchase essential items.