Coronavirus Outbreak: What are red, green, orange zones

With over 12000 active cases of COVID19 in the country that resulted in the nationwide lockdown getting extended till May 3 the government had on Wednesday issued a set of fresh guidelines till May 3 Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a televised speech on Tuesday announced measures that the government would undertake to tackle the pandemicThe Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry have also earmarked the districts in the country into three categories ndashred green and orange zones as per the frequency of the cases reported from the areasCOVID19 containment starts with the identification of hotspots and their categorization into Red Orange amp Green Zones Spokesperson Ministry of Home Affairs pictwittercomFbWUlfcyCdmdash ANI ANI April 16 2020The BMC will also come up with red and orange zones in Mumbai to mark containment zones for stricter implementation of the lockdown While the plans are still being drafted areas with a high number of positive cases of COVID19 will be put in the red zone and will have no external essential service providersLets know more about these zonesRed zoneAccording to the Union Health Ministry the districts identified as hotspots are marked as red zones These districts have reported a large number of Coronavirus cases and need focused attention As much as 170 districts in the country have been marked as hotspots which is further divided into two groups a 123 districts where a large number of cases have been reported and b 47 districts where cases were reported in clustersAccording to the Health Ministry the districts contributing to more than 80 per cent of the cases reported in the country the districts contributing to more than 80 per cent of the cases in a state or districts with doubling rates reported to be less than four days can be classified as a hotspot or a red zone The ministry also said that the government will provide doortodoor facilities and undertake containment activities in these districts for the next 14 days Mumbai recording the highest number cases in the country with 3081 has been declared a hotspot by the governmentOrange ZoneThe districts that had reported less number of Coronavirus cases or not seen a surge of positive cases in the area have been marked as orange zone In these zones limited services of public transport farm harvesting activities and functioning of small scale industries manufacturing essential items such as flour pulses and edible oils have been permitted A hotspot district can be declared an orange zone if cases reported in 14 days is less or noneAccording to the health ministry 16 districts in Maharashtra have been declared as an orange zone The districts are Gondia Washim Yavatmal Buldhana Hingoli Akola Beed Amravati Jalna Latur Osmanabad Satara Jalgaon Kolhapur Ratnagiri and SindhudurgGreen ZoneAccording to the Union Health Ministry the districts that have not reported positive cases of Coronavirus are classified as green zones In these zones essential items that generate state revenue would be given an extension Small scale industries manufacturing essential items will be allowed to function freely but with strict maintenance of social distancingHotspots have to undertake effective containment activities to flatten the curve and bring the number of Coronavirus cases down in order to qualify as an orange zone and subsequently as a green zone in 24 daysCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news