New Delhi: In a letter to chief secretaries of all states and union territories, Union health secretary Preeti Sudan gave a list of 130 red zones, 284 orange zones and 319 green zones at the district level across the country for containment operations.

The letter read, in reference to the video conference chaired by the Cabinet Secretary today i.e. on 30th April with the Chief Secretaries and Secretary Health of the states. It is important to ensure that we identify pockets of critical interventions for a focused management of Covid 19 at the field level.

The districts were earlier designated as hotspots / red-zones, orange zones and green zones primarily based on the cumulative cases reported and the doubling rate.

Designated across various zones

Since recovery rates have gone up, the districts are now being designated across various zones duly broad-basing the criteria. This classification is multi-factorial and takes into consideration incidence of cases, doubling rate, extent of testing and surveillance feedback to classify the districts. A district will be considered under Green Zone, if there are no confirmed cases so far or there is no reported case since last 21 days in the district.

Some states have raised issues on inclusion of certain districts in red-zone, I would like to highlight that this is a dynamic list. The list will be revised on a weekly basis or earlier and communicated to states for further follow-up action in consonance with the directions issued by Ministry of Home Affairs under the Disaster Management Act, 2005.

Necessary action for containment

It is further highlighted that based on field 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 id/range as communicated by the Ministry.

For the districts having one or more municipal corporations, the corporations and other areas of districts may be treated as separate units. If one or more of these units have reported no cases for last 21 days, they can be considered as one level lower in zonal classification, in case the district is in Red/Orange Zone. District authorities should,
however, exercise due caution in such areas so that these areas remain free from
COVID-19 cases.

It is critical to ensure that necessary action for containment so as to break the chain of transmission of virus is initiated in both red and orange zone districts reporting confirmed cases.

The containment zones in these districts have to be delineated based on:

Mapping of cases & contacts

Geographical dispersion of cases and contacts

Area with well demarcated perimeter

Enforce-ability

Depending on above factors, for urban areas residential colony/mohallas/municipal wards or police-station area/municipal zones/towns etc. as appropriate can be designated as containment zones. Similarly, for rural areas – villages/clusters of villages or group of police stations/gram panchayats/blocks etc. as appropriate can be designated as containment zones. The area should be appropriately defined by the district administration/local urban body with technical inputs from local level. In the spirit of effective containment, it is advisable to err on the side of caution.

Further, a buffer zone around containment zone has to be demarcated.

Necessary action should then be initiated in these areas as part of the Containment Action Plans already communicated including –
# Stringent Perimeter control

# Establishing clear entry and exit points

# No movement except for medical emergencies and essential goods &
services

# No unchecked influx of population

# People transiting to be recorded & followed through IDSP

# Active search for cases through house to house surveillance by special teams formed for the purpose

# Testing of all cases as per sampling guidelines o Contact tracing
. Clinical management of all confirmed cases

Similarly, in buffer zones, extensive surueillance for cases through monitoring of ILI/SARI cases in health facilities has to be taken up.

All States are accordingly requested to delineate the containment zones and buffer zones in the identified red and orange zone districts and notify the same.

 130 red zones, 284 orange zones and 319 green zones at district level across the country |Full List