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Punjab’s Jalandhar, Patiala and Ludhiana are among 130 red zone districts in country
Ropar, Fatehgarh Sahib, Bathinda and Fazilka have been declared green zones, while the remaining 15 are orange zones
Jalandhar, Patiala and Ludhiana in Punjab are among the 130 districts declared as red zones by the Union ministry of health and family welfare (MOHFW).
The three of the 22 districts in Punjab were listed among the red zones on Thursday, a day the state saw its sharpest spike in coronavirus positive cases.
The Centre, according to a letter sent by secretary, MOHFW, Preeti Sudan, declared 284 districts as orange zones and another 319 as green zones in the country. Ropar, Fatehgarh Sahib, Bathinda and Fazilka in Punjab have been declared green zones and the remaining 15 are orange zones.
In the previous list of hotspots, released on April 15, the four districts of Mohali, Jalandhar, Pathankot and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar were identified as red zones with large outbreaks.
“The districts were earlier designated as hotspots/red zones, orange zones and green zones primarily based on cumulative cases reported and the doubling rate. Since recovery rates have gone up, the districts are now being designated across various zones duly broad-basing the criteria. This classification is multi-factoral and takes into consideration incidence of cases, doubling rate, extent of testing and surveillance, feedback to classify the districts,” Sudan wrote to chief secretaries of all states after a meeting held by the Union cabinet secretary with them. The districts have been being considered under green zones if there are no confirmed cases so far or there is no reported case in the past 21 days in the district. The MOHFW secretary said that based on feedback and additional analysis at state level, states may designate additional red or orange zones as appropriate. “However, states may not relax the zonal classification of districts classified as red/orange as communicated by the ministry,” she wrote.
