170 districts identified as coronavirus 'hotspots', 207 as 'not-hotspots'
A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation to announce the extension of coronavirus lockdown further, the Union Health Ministry declared 170 districts as coronavirus hotspots, while identifying 207 districts as non-hotspots across the nation. The action by the ministry is on the lines of Prime Minister's speech on Tuesday, in which he had stated that the authorities would open up certain sectors of the economy by April 20, but only after taking stock of the situation in each area of the country.
During the presser, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Health, Luv Agrawal, said on Wednesday, "The districts of the country will be classified into three categories - hotspot districts, non-hotspot districts and green zone, or non-affected, districts."
The health ministry officials also directed that the districts where COVID-19 cases are being reported but are not hotspots need to work proactively and should initiate containment strategies. They also said that door-to-door surveys being conducted in the hotspots by special teams that will search for new COVID-19 cases. The samples will be collected and tested as per the sampling criteria.
No movement will be allowed in containment zones, except for those related to essential services, Lav Agrawal said.
However, no community transmission has been reported in India so far but there have been some local outbreaks, Agarwal cautioned.
While briefing the media, Agrawal said that in the last 24 hours, a total of 1,076 fresh coronavirus cases have been reported in India.
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