Authorities in Uttarakhand have designated Haridwar and Nainital as ‘red zones’ or hotspots after a spike in the number of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases in these two districts, according to media reports on Sunday.
Two more people, both in Haridwar had tested positive for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in the hill state on Saturday, taking the state’s tally to 42.
Yugal Kishor Pant, additional secretary (Health), said that 80% of the Covid-19 cases in the state are from Dehradun, Haridwar and Nainital districts. The state capital, Dehradun, has already been classified as a ‘red zone’.
Earlier this week, the government divided the country into colour-coded areas depending on the level of infection— red zones indicate infection hotspots, orange some infection, while green denotes an area with no infections.
The Union health ministry had declared 170 hotspots—123 hotspot districts with large outbreaks and 47 hotspot districts with clusters—in 25 states and Union territories.
The districts seeing a high number of cases or high growth rate of infections were marked as hotspots; districts where some cases have been found as non-hotspots; and those which have reported no cases as green zones.
The districts or cities contributing to more than 80% of the cases in the country or the state will be classified as hotspots (red zone), according to the government. Places that show a high rate of infection with a doubling rate of less than four days will also be in this category.
All six metros—Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad—currently have a high number of cases.
Apart from the 123 hotspots, 47 districts were marked under ‘cluster outbreaks’, where the virus spreads in clusters, more than 15 cases are reported and the infection shows no sign of stopping.
Furthermore, 207 districts have been identified as potential hotspots or where there have been cases but the numbers were limited.
Officials said on Saturday that one of the two people to test positive for the coronavirus disease is a migrant labourer—the first such case in the state. The second patient is a close contact of a person who attended the event of Tablighi Jamaat in Delhi last month.
“A 24-year-old migrant labourer, who initially worked in Rishikesh, and a 45-year-old female who is a close contact of a Jamaat attendee tested positive for coronavirus,” Dr Saroj Naithani, chief medical officer (CMO) of Haridwar district, said.
“The migrant labourer had come to Rishikesh from Hathras area in Uttar Pradesh to work, but he was caught by officials on March 30 near Roorkee and sent to a relief camp. He was caught when he along with three others were going back to Hathras by taking a lift from a truck driver,” Dr Naithani added.
The samples of the migrant labourer were sent for testing on April 16 after he complained of sore throat. Test results of three more people travelling with him are awaited.
Dr Naithani said they have isolated the 45-year-old woman, who was already staying in a quarantine centre since she was found to be a close contact of another positive Covid-19 patient.
“On Saturday, her two children were also isolated and their samples sent for testing. Her husband, however, has tested negative but is still being monitored by health officials for any symptoms in future,” he said.
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