The Union government on Wednesday released a list of hotspot zones in the country, including 170 districts classified as red zones.
Of this, 123 districts have been classified as ones that have a large outbreak, while 47 districts have COVID-19 clusters. A total of 207 districts have been classified as non hot-spots.
In the south there have been 11 districts in Andhra Pradesh, three in Karnataka, six in Kerala, 22 in Tamil Nadu and eight in Telangana identified as ‘red’ zones with large outbreaks.
Hotspots in the south with large outbreaks
Andhra Pradesh: Kurnool, Guntur, Spsr Nellore, Prakasam, Krishna, YSR, West Godavari, Chittoor, Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, Anantapur
Karnataka: Bengaluru Urban, Mysuru, Belagavi
Kerala: Kasaragod, Kannur, Ernakulam, Malappuram, Thiruvananthapuram, Pathanamthitta
Tamil Nadu: Chennai, Trichy, Coimbatore, Tirunelveli, Erode, Vellore, Dindugal, Villupuram, Tiruppur, Theni, Nammakal, Chengalpattu, Madurai, Tuticorin, Karur, Virudhunagar, Kanyakumari, Cuddalore, Thiruvallur, Thiruvarur, Salem, Nagapattinam
Telangana: Hyderabad, Nizamabad, Warangal Urban, Ranga Reddy, Jogulamba Gadwal, Medchal Malkajgiri, Karimnagar, Nirmal
Hotspots in the south identified as clusters
Karnataka: Dakshina Kannada, Bidar, Kalaburagi, Bagalkote, Dharwad
Kerala: Wayanad
Telangana: Nalgonda
How districts have been classified
Hotspots were earlier defined by the Union Health ministry to be those districts which have either reported large numbers of people falling sick with COVID-19 or where there has been a steady increase in the number of individuals infected with the disease.
As per the notice signed by Preeti Sudan, Health Secretary of India, districts are now classified as either hotspots or ‘red’ zones, non-hotspot districts, and non-infected or ‘green’ zones.
Hotspots districts are further divided into districts with large outbreaks and those with clusters.
Non-hotspot districts which have reported cases are referred to as clusters.
If a red zone hasn’t reported a new positive case in 14 days it will be shifted to hotspot ‘orange’ zone. If no further cases are reported for another 14 days, the district is then declared a ‘green’ zone
