Uttarakhand likely to revisit categorisation of zones in the state
According to the zone assessment parameters of the Central government and categorisation of districts, a district is considered a green zone if it does not report any cases in the last 21 days.
Uttarakhand government is likely to decide upon zone categorisation of districts again after many hilly districts reported coronavirus disease (Covid-19) positive cases.
As per the present categorisation in the state, Tehri Garhwal, Haridwar, Rudraprayag, Chamoli, Bageshwar, Pithoragarh, and Champawat districts are in the green zone category. The current zone categorisation was decided on May 18 and is likely to be updated on May 25, as per the bulletin released by the state health department on Thursday.
According to the zone assessment parameters of the Central government and categorisation of districts, a district is considered a green zone if it does not report any cases in the last 21 days. Tehri Garhwal, Bageshwar, Chamoli districts reported Covid-19 positive cases for the first time this week and lost their green zone tag.
On Wednesday, Tehri Garhwal district reported six new Covid-19 positive cases. At present, of the seven green zone districts in the state, four have reported Covid-19 positive cases in the past three days.
Similarly, as per the parametres, if the testing ratio (the number of tests conducted per lakh population) is below 65, then a district should be put under the red zone. If this parametre is followed, then the eight hilly districts of Uttarakhand; Almora, Bageshwar, Chamoli, Champawat, Pauri Garhwal, Pithoragarh, Rudraprayag, and Tehri Garhwal, should be put under the red zone category, as per tests done till May 18. Only Dehradun district had conducted over 200 tests per one lakh population in the state.
Dr. SK Gupta, director in-charge of medical and health department Uttarakhand, said, “There might be a change by next week, as some districts have reported new cases in the past few days. We’ll be studying all the parametres and decide on it.”
The government has put six districts in the orange zone, which include Dehradun, Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarkashi, Pauri Garhwal, Almora, and Nainital.
Udham Singh Nagar, an orange zone district, has the highest number of active cases in the state at 22, followed by Dehradun (21)