To assess and prevent cross-border infection from Delhi, the Gautam Buddh Nagar district administration has decided that it will randomly test travelers entering Noida by road or through subway stations with the help of rapid antigen kits. Officials said teams from the health department will be randomly deployed to any of Delhi’s five main road entry / exit points or to eleven metro stations in Noida, connected to Delhi, for testing.
Officials said the initiative starting on Wednesday is part of a strategy to deal with the possibility of an increase in Covid-19 cases in neighboring Delhi, prompting an increase in cases in Noida as a large number of daily commuters travel between Noida and Delhi.
“Our health department is marking teams, around 2 or 3, that will be randomly deployed on the borders of the road with Delhi or outside the metro stations. The teams will randomly select travelers coming from Delhi and collect their samples with the help of rapid antigen kits. Traffic between Delhi and Noida would continue to be normal and it is reiterated that only a few randomly selected travelers will be tested and not all travelers, ”said Suhas LY, Gautam Budh Nagar District Magistrate.
“The exercise will start on Wednesday. Since it will be the first day, we have not evaluated how many of the passengers will be evaluated. This evaluation will take place one day later. This is being done to assess the spread of the infection and would help issue warnings to employers and organizations, where large numbers of people work and commute between Gautam Buddh Nagar and adjacent areas, so that the spread of the infection is contained. to a large degree. ”Suhas added.
Also read: Noida authority asks officials to collect only separated waste to improve Swachhta classification
The five main entry / exit points that Noida shares with Delhi are the DND migration route, the Noida-Mayur Vihar border, the New Ashok Nagar border, Kalindi Kunj and another border near Kondli. The city has nine metro stations on the Blue Line of the Delhi Metro network and two stations on the Magenta Line connecting Delhi.
“Before the closure, each of the three highways (connecting Delhi and Noida) served more than one lakh of vehicular traffic respectively. After the closure, the number of vehicles has decreased on the roads since schools, universities and several offices were closed. We believe that around 70,000 vehicles use DND Flyway and about 60,000 vehicles use Kalindi Kunj every day. Similar numbers of vehicles also circulate on the Mayur Vihar interchange road, ”said Ashutosh Singh, Noida traffic inspector.
Also read: Women’s Group Cycles to Promote Fitness in Greater Noida West
These roads are currently free, so police do not have exact figures, officials said.
Ganesh Saha, DCP traffic, Gautam Budh Nagar, said he has not received the order from the district judge on a random sample of travelers visiting Noida from Delhi for Covid-19 testing.
“We will coordinate with the district administration as part of the program,” Saha said.
According to state control room records, the district as of November 17 recorded a total of 20,566 Covid-19 cases, including 1,236 active cases in addition to 73 deaths. During the first 17 days of November, the district has reported 2,727 new cases of coronavirus.
.
