Maharashtra, Delhi, Tamil Nadu Have Most Covid-19 Hotspots; Govt Identifies Red, Green & White Zones

Union Health Ministry identified 170 districts as COVID-19 hotspots and 207 districts as potential hotspots, reiterating that there has been no community transmission of the disease in the country so far.

Workers place a banner after erecting a road blockade at an identified red zone area for COVID-19 during a nationwide lockdown in the wake of coronavirus pandemic. (Image: PTI)

New Delhi: The Central government on Wednesday identified as many as 170 districts across the country as Coronavirus hotspots and 207 districts as non-hotspots while the remaining have been categorised as green zones. Addressing a daily press conference on Covid-19 updates, Union Health Ministry identified 170 districts as COVID-19 hotspots and 207 districts as potential hotspots, reiterating that there has been no community transmission of the disease in the country so far. "States have been asked to classify districts which have reported a higher number of cases as hotspots, the districts where cases have been reported as non-hotspots, and green zones where no cases have been reported," Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Health Lav Agarwal said while speaking at the daily briefing. "Hotspots are those districts which are reporting more number of cases or where the rate of growth of COVID-19 cases is high," Agarwal said, adding a detailed direction has been issued to states stating consolidated efforts are required to utilize this period of lockdown to curb the spread of the virus.

A total of 170 districts have been identified as #hotspots, while 207 districts as non-hotspots: Media briefing by @MoHFW_INDIA #IndiaFightsCorona #Lockdown2 pic.twitter.com/Azf3MwJSBj

— PIB India ???????? #StayHome #StaySafe (@PIB_India) April 15, 2020

States such as Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Andhra Pradesh have highest number of districts marked as Coronavirus hotspots. As per the ministry Maharashtra has 14 such districts, Tamil Nadu 22, Rajasthan 12, Uttar Pradesh 13, Delhi 10 and Andhra Pradesh 11. Hotspots have also been identified in other states of the country such as Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam and Himachal Pradesh. All these districts have been marked under Red Zone by the Central government. Cabinet secretary held a video conference today with all chief secretaries, DGPs, health secretaries, collectors, SPs, municipal commissioners and CMOs where hotspots were discussed and orientation on field level implementation of containment strategy was given. ALSO WATCH | Health Ministry Updates About Covid-19 Containment Strategy "They were told about large outbreak containment strategies, cluster containment strategies. Delineation of buffer and containment zone, parameter mapping, defining of entry and exit points were also discussed in detail," Agarwal said. The joint secretary said movement of people will not be allowed in containment zones except for those related with essential services and special teams will search for new cases and samples will be collected and tested as per sampling criteria. Apart from these identified, the government has also identified 207 districts as non-hotspot district which has lesser number of Covid-19 cases and marked under White Zone and 353 districts with no cases at all under Green Zone. Districts falling under the Green Zone are most likely to see restrictions being relaxed post April 20 if they continue to keep Coronavirus at bay, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his speech on Tuesday where he extended the nationwide lockdown till May 3.

.@HMOIndia issues consolidated revised guidelines for #Lockdown2 period as every district of the country has been divided into Hotspot & Non-Hotspot districts and Green zone districts#IndiaFightsCorona

More updates in PIB's daily #COVID19 bulletin ▶️ https://t.co/1lWrMX9Qw3 pic.twitter.com/gRZoYQDzZe — PIB India ???????? #StayHome #StaySafe (@PIB_India) April 15, 2020

Ministry of Home Affairs in its revised lockdown guidelines, released earlier in the day, listed services that would be exempt from the lockdown for non-hotspot districts. As per sources, even some of the districts in White Zone might also see containment measures in order to contain the Covid-19 spread. The government has also stated that in case there are no reports of fresh Covid-19 infections from a Red Zone district in 14 days, it would be moved to the Orange Zone and if no new cases emerge in 28 days, it will be shifted to the Green Zone. As of Wednesday afternoon, the total number of COVID-19 cases in India has risen to 11,439 with 1,076 fresh cases reported in the last 24 hours while the death toll stands at 377. (With inputs from agencies)