District collector clarifies on containment zones in Visakhapatnam

VISAKHAPATNAM: The four new cases on Friday and Saturday have sent the alarm bells ringing in Visakhapatnam and have ensured that the number of containment zones in the district go up to eleven, covering much of the core GVMC area.
Much of Visakhapatnam west and parts of the old city, including the administrative and health zone of Maharanipeta have now fallen under the scanner and the district administration is now taking up measures to ensure that the 3km perimeter rule is implemented in Maharanipeta area and Gopalapatnam.
Talking to TOI, district collector, Visakhapatnam, V Vinay Chand said, “Taking into cognisance the rise in number of cases within the city and the directives issued by the Union Government we have increased the number of containment zones within the GVMC. Movement of vehicles will be restricted in the containment zones and there will be only a single entry and exit point. Unnecessary travel will not be encouraged. However, essential goods and medical facilities will be available.”
When asked if this meant that there would be a complete lockdown in Visakhapatnam city, the collector clarified, “Many of these containment zones cover the core city area. However, some of them are the earliest declared containment zones and norms will be relaxed once the 28-day period is completed. However, having said that this is a dynamic arrangement and will be decided based only on the occurrence or non-occurrence of the virus threat.”
The district administration is taking no chances and made it clear that continuous scrutiny and surveillance of residents in containment zones will continue unabated. On the further relaxation of norms in the non-containment zones, the collector made it clear that the decision would be based on the directives of the state government that would be issued after the 3rd of May.