MHA: COVID-19 containment starts with identification of hotspots, their categorisation

In the thick of Coronavirus, the Union Home Ministry on Thursday said that the COVID-19 containment has started with the identification of hotspots and their categorisation into different zones based on the occurrence of cases in those areas. The areas reporting a large number of cases or high growth rate of COVID-19 will be categorised as Red Zone hotspots. The inclusion criteria of Red zones will be as follows:

-Highest caseload districts contributing to more than 80 per cent of cases in India or -Highest caseload districts contributing to more than 80 per cent of cases for each state in India or

- Districts with a doubling rate in less than 4 days (calculated every Monday for last 7 days, to be determined by the state government) An MHA spokesperson said that hotspot districts can be turned to Orange Zone when no cases are reported for 14 days and this zone will be declared a Green Zone (non-infected districts) when no more positive cases are reported for another 14 days.

There are 170 Red Zones and 207 non-hotspot districts with clusters in the country. The Red Zone hotspots are further categorised into two categories-- Clusters and Large Outbreak. The hotspots will be termed as Large Outbreak if there is a localised increase in the incidence of COVID-19 cases occurring within a defined geographic area, cases not epidemiologically linked or there are more than 15 cases in the area.

The spokesperson further said that the strategic approach for COVID-19 containment broadly involves defining the area of operation, applying perimeter control, delineating containment and buffer zones, active search for cases, contact tracing, quarantine, clinical management and awareness generation among the public.

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MHA monitoring instances of lockdown violation

Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Thursday stated that the Home Ministry is monitoring incidents of violation of lockdown guidelines including the congregation of people and opening of shops and establishments on a daily basis. This comes after instances of violence against health workers engaged in surveillance and quarantine measures etc.

The Ministry further stated that the Ministry of Home Affairs would take action under the Disaster Management Act against officers found responsible for such violations. 

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(with inputs from ANI)