Centre flags 145 districts as potential Covid 19 hotspots

New Delhi : The Centre has red flagged 145 districts which can be the potential COVID 19 hotspots with cases being reported in last three weeks and cautioned that strict containment zone measures must be implemented in them. In a presentation to representatives of states on Thursday, cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba highlighted that eastern India was likely to be the next big Covid-19 hotspot with the return of migrant workers from the worst-hit states.

He mentioned that 12 states, including Bihar, Odisha and West Bengal, which earlier did not had many coronavirus cases have suddenly reported cases in last couple of days. Other states such as Tripura and Manipur, too, have reported an increase in Covid-19 cases after having infections in single digits earlier.

While the bulk number of coronavirus cases belong to states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

India had reported 75,000 cases until May 13. The ministry said the bigger states remained the main contributors to the surge but that states such as Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha saw sharp increase in cases.

“It is primarily because of the return of migrant workers from Covid-19 hotspot states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh that the cases increased in eastern India,” said an official on condition of anonymity. “As the rush of migrant workers was huge, there was no proper screening of passengers at railway and bus stations. Therefore, many took infections from one state to another.”

As lockdown 4 is set to end in India, 145 districts have been flagged as containment zones to ensure no spread of the coronavirus.