Phones of those in quarantine to be tracked for violation, says CM

Delhi government gives 14,345 contact numbers to be monitored to police on Wednesday in addition to 11,084 it shared on Tuesday

nNEWDELHI: Mobile phones of more than 24,000 individuals in Delhi, who are presently under quarantine to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, will be put under surveillance to check for quarantine violation.

Experts said that while there is no precedent in the country on tracking people for such a reason, the government mus respect people’s right to privacy. Police said they were yet to be notified on the move.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said security agencies will go through patients’ GPS locations to determine if they are respecting quarantine protocols.

“We have seen several developed nation track phones of their quarantined patients to check against violations and the method seems to have worked. In a meeting with the lieutenantgovernor, we too have decided to adopt it. We have already provided 11,084 phone numbers to the police and another set of 14,345 numbers will be provided today (Wednesday),” he said. “We had to take such strict measures considering how the virus has spread across countries.”

A senior police officer said, “We are yet to be notified about the announcement made by the CM regarding electronic surveillance on quarantined people. As and when we are informed about it, necessary steps would be taken to implement it.”

Category A persons – individuals who have returned from coronavirus-affected nations and are symptomatic— and their contacts are isolated in government facilities. But, asymptomatic persons – classified under Category B and C – are either asked to go for self-quarantine at their residences or remain isolated in government centres, depending on their travel history and other factors that include age and other ailments, as per the guidelines issued by the Union health ministry.

In Delhi, till Wednesday, the virus has infected 152 individuals, Kejriwal said. “Of these, 49 had a travel history to an affected nation, 29 were people who came into their direct contact and 24 are cases originating from the Markaz gathering in Nizamuddin,”