New Delhi: The Union Health Ministry declared Wednesday 170 districts as COVID-19 hotspots and 207 districts as non-hotspots. Officials of the Health Ministry once more reiterated that there has been no community transmission of the disease in India so far.
Figures vary
The number of positive coronavirus cases rose to 11,933 with the addition of 1,118 fresh patients in the last 24 hours. The death toll from the virus inched towards the 400-mark with 392 falling victim to the disease.
However, a tally compiled by this agency pegged the death toll at 405 with the number of persons affected by the disease reaching 11,946. (See tally below).
Identifying districts
Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Health Lav Agarwal said that states have been asked to classify districts witnessing higher number of cases as hotspots. In districts where some cases have been found have been declared as non-hotspots. Those districts which have not reported any positive coronavirus cases are being called ‘green zones’.
“As per data till Tuesday, 170 districts have been classified as hotspot areas. Non-hotspot districts where cases have been reported are 207 in number,” Agarwal informed.
“Cluster containment plan needs to be implemented in those 207 non-hotspots as they can develop as potential hotspots,” the official said. “There is no community transmission in India so far. What we are seeing is some local outbreaks and clusters. In these places cluster and outbreak containment strategies are being adopted,” Agarwal informed.
The districts which have not reported any cases yet have also been directed to work on cluster containment plans, Agarwal stated.
Agarwal said that the cabinet secretary held a video conference Wednesday. Those who participated were all chief secretaries, DGPs, health secretaries, collectors, SPs, municipal commissioners and CMOs. The hot spots issue was discussed and orientation on field level implementation of containment strategy was given.
Special teams for containment zones
The Health Ministry joint secretary said movement of people will not be allowed in containment zones. Those related with essential services and teams involved in searching for new cases and samples will be allowed to move.
“Special teams have been formed which will work in containment zone and do contact tracing and house-to-house surveys. Cases of fever, cough and breathlessness will be identified in the survey. Action will be taken as per protocol then,” Agarwal said.
“We have told the states that they may declare additional areas as hotspots. They can take appropriate action,” Agarwal added.
Health staff, services of local revenue and corporation employees and volunteers will also be utilised in the special teams. These teams will do contact tracing, survey and surveillance, informed Agarwal.
State-wise coronavirus tally
State/UT Confirmed Discharged Deaths
Andaman & Nicobar 11 10 0
Andhra Pradesh 502 14 11
Arunachal Pradesh 1 0 0
Assam 32 0 1
Bihar 70 29 1
Chandigarh 21 7 0
Chhattisgarh 33 13 0
Delhi 1,561 30 30
Goa 7 5 0
Gujarat 695 59 30
Haryana 190 42 2
Himachal Pradesh 34 12 2
Jammu & Kashmir 278 20 4
Jharkhand 27 0 2
Karnataka 279 80 12
Kerala 387 218 2
Ladakh 16 11 0
Madhya Pradesh 874 64 53
Maharashtra 2,801 259 178
Manipur 2 1 0
Meghalaya 7 0 1
Mizoram 1 0 0
Nagaland 1 0 0
Odisha 60 18 1
Pondicherry 8 1 1
Punjab 186 27 13
Rajasthan 1,046 74 11
Tamil Nadu 1,242 118 14
Telangana 644 110 18
Tripura 2 1 0
Uttarakhand 37 9 0
Uttar Pradesh 727 55 11
West Bengal 164 42 7
Total 11,946 1,329 405