India split into 3 zones: 130 dists in Red, 284 Orange, 319 in ‘free’ Green
As the total tally of coronavirus cases zoomed past 36,000 on Friday, the Centre split 733 districts across India into Red, Orange and Green zones, designating all metropolitan cities (Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad) into the “no activity” zone.
According to the list, there are 130 Red zone districts, where more stringent restrictions will be enforced post May 3. However, there will be partial easing in Orange zones (284 districts) and liberal easing in Green zones (319 districts). Current classification is based on the incidence of coronavirus cases, doubling rate, the extent of testing, and surveillance feedback.
In a letter to Chief Secretaries of all States and Union Territories, Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan gave details of the grading districts in three categories, Red, Orange and Green.
According to the letter, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar each have 5 districts in the Red zone, Delhi has 11 while Jammu & Kashmir 4. Jharkhand has 1, Karnataka 3, Kerala 2, Maharashtra 14, Odisha 3, Tamil Nadu 12, Uttar Pradesh 19 and Bengal 10.
As per the letter a district will be considered under green zone if there are no confirmed cases so far or there is no reported case for the last 21 days in the district.
“All States are accordingly requested to delineate the containment zones and buffer zones in the identified red and orange zone districts and notify the same,” she said.
All the six metros — Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad — have been classified as red zone by the order.
The Union Health Secretary has reiterated the need to initiate all necessary action in the red and orange zones to contain the spread of the virus. She has also called for a buffer zone to be created around these areas.
The containment plan includes establishing clear entry and exit points, no movement except medical emergencies and essential goods and services, no unchecked influx of population, active search for cases through house-to-house surveillance, testing of all cases, contact tracing and clinical management of all confirmed cases,
If one or more of these zones have reported no cases for last 21 days, they can be considered one level lower in zonal classification, Sudan said in the letter.
“The list will be revised on a weekly basis or earlier and communicated to states for further follow up action in consonance with the directions issued by Ministry of Home Affairs under the Disaster Management Act, 2005,” Sudan added in the letter.