INDIA: The Ministry of Home Affairs has issued fresh guidelines for the extended lockdown. They have provided specific set of guidelines for hotspots and containment zones.
Ministry defined hotspot as ‘areas of large COVID-19 outbreaks, or clusters with a significant spread of COVID-19. Containment zones in these areas will be demarcated by state, UT and district administration. No activity will be allowed within the containment zone.
According to a source of the Integrated Diseases Surveillance Program, any area where there are more than 10 cases of unusual transmission are known as a Cluster. And places with several clusters are known as Hotspot.
The Ministry of Health defines COVID-19 containment zones as the area where several positive cases of Coronavirus are found. The aim is to prevent or contain the spread of disease within the area. According to MoHFW guidelines, a Rapid Response Team demarcates the area around the epicenter or the residence of the case as a containment zone. Every confirmed case is an epicenter and containment zone is created around it. The size depends on population density and scale of outbreak.
“The difference between a hotspot and a containment zone is that the former are not seized but largely monitored for suspected cases. However, when a place is declared as containment zones, the areas are completely sealed, and no one is allowed to step outside, not even to buy essential supplies. Such products are supplied at doorstep by the health workers.
Coronavirus hotspot areas in India:
1.Maharashtra- Mumbai, Pune, Dharavi
2. Delhi- Nizammudin, Dilshad Garden, South Delhi
3. Uttar Pradesh- Noida, Meerut, Gautam Budhh Nagar, Agra
4. Kerala- Kasargod, Pathanamthitta, Kannur
5. Tamil Nadu- Chennai, Coimbature, Dindigul, Erode
6. Telangana- Hyderabad
7. Rajasthan- Bhilwara, Jaipur
8. Gujarat- Ahmedabad
9. Madhya Pradesh- Bhopal, Indore
10. Karnataka- Bengaluru, Mysore
11. Andhra Pradesh- Guntur, Nellore
12. West Bengal- Kolkata
With continuous rise in the number of cases reaching 11,439 cases in all, India is trying hard to stop the epidemic from spreading from Stage 2 to Stage 3, which is community spread will be rampant. The list of containment zones is extended in many states.
Maharashtra, Delhi and Tamil Nadu with the highest number of cases in the country have identified new containment zones so as to control the spread of COVID-19.
Delhi government has included eight more areas taking the total number of areas in the list of its containment zones to 55. The BMC has also identified new containment zones in Mumbai and the count has gone from 241 to 383 on April 14. The number of containment zones in Tamil Nadu at present is 220.
The other states includes Uttar Pradesh with 105 containment zones, Rajasthan 38, Madhya Pradesh 180, Telangana 125, 36 in Hyderabad, and Andhra Pradesh reportedly have 121 containment zones.
Centre government and state governments have appealed to the people to adhere to the extended nationwide lockdown to prevent further spread of Covid-19.
As of now, the government is hoping to arrest the disease within these hotspots and ensure and further spreading does not occur.
—- Anita Pandey