The Union Territory of Chandigarh, which has reported 21 positive Covid-19 (Coronavirus) cases till Wednesday evening, has been included in the list of coronavirus hotspots released by the Central Government.
As per Centre’s guidelines, restrictions will continue to apply on hotspots or red zones till May 3. A district could move from the red to the green zone if it does not report any case for 28 days, and vice-versa.
The development has come as a major disappointment for the UT Administration, which has decided to approach the Central Government to reconsider its case and allow relaxations accordingly, after April 20.
The Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a day before announced that for the next one week till April 20, every town, district, state will be examined carefully and areas, which have shown improvement in tackling coronavirus will be given certain relaxations.
Following this, the Administration had already begun preparing a roadmap for allowing relaxations after April 20 in the city. Curfew was imposed in Chandigarh on March 24 to ensure social distancing and combat the spread of Coronavirus. The city has so far recorded 21 positive Coronavirus cases, out of which nine have already recovered and no death has been reported till Wednesday evening. While 1721 were put in home quarantine as a precautionary measure, 1226 have completed the quarantine period.
Manoj Parida, Adviser to UT Administrator while talking to The Pioneer said, “Chandigarh has been included in the list of 170 districts identified as Covid-19 hotspots or red zones released by Central Government.
“The Administration will approach the Central Government urging it reconsider Chandigarh’s case as more than nine persons have already recovered in the city. No coronavirus hotspots within the city have been identified,” he said.
“We were hoping to allow certain relaxations regarding public movement and opening of various establishments after April 20. But, no relaxations can be allowed in coronavirus hotspots as per Centre’s guidelines till May 3,” he added.
The UT Administrator VP Singh Badnore was also apprized about Centre’s decision to declare Chandigarh as a hotspot district, which requires strict restrictions in the city. The Administrator has directed the UT officers to ensure that the instructions received from Central Government be strictly implemented and supervised.
Notably, Chandigarh is a joint capital of Punjab and Haryana. While Punjab has so far reported 186 positive coronavirus cases, Haryana has recorded 190 cases.
The satellite township of Chandigarh namely Mohali in Punjab is also Covid-19 hotspot and has reported 56 cases, maximum in the State. Neighboring district of Panchkula in Haryana has reported six cases.
According to the Centre’s guidelines, in hotspots, containment zones will be demarcated by States/ UTs/ District administrations as per the guidelines of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. In these containment zones, the activities allowed for non-hotspots will not be permitted. There shall be strict perimeter control in the area of the containment zones to ensure that there is no unchecked inward or outward movement of population from these zones except for maintaining essential services (including medical emergencies and law and order related duties) and Government business continuity.