COVID-19: 10 Coronavirus hotspots identified, testing to be boosted

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COVID-19: 10 Coronavirus hotspots identified, testing to be boosted
COVID-19: 10 Coronavirus hotspots identified, testing to be boosted

New Delhi : After a sudden rise in the number of positive coronavirus cases in India, the government has identified 10 COVID-19 hotspots where an unusual rise in the number of positive cases was registered. The testing process will be boosted in such areas.

"We are stepping up testing in the hotspots. But testing will be done only as per testing protocol," a senior health ministry official told the Indian Express.

The "hotspots" are Dilshad Garden and Nizamuddin in Delhi, Noida and Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, Kasaragod and Pathanamthitta in Kerala, Mumbai and Pune in Maharashtra, Bhilwara in Rajasthan, and Ahmedabad in Gujarat.

So far, India has registered more than 1300 positive cases of coronavirus and 35 deaths have been reported. The total number of tests conducted to date is just 38,432.

Defining a "hotspot", a source in the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme told the Indian Express, "Normally we define an area where there are more than 10 cases as a cluster. Places, where there are several clusters, are treated as hotspots. Sometimes the cases are localised, sometimes so widespread that the entire city has to be covered."

The source added that Ahmedabad is an exception, as there have been just five confirmed cases of the disease, but three deaths. "Our assessment normally is that there are 100 cases for every death. That is why Ahmedabad is a hotspot in our list. Three deaths and five cases do not add up."

Ministry of Health's joint secretary Lav Agarwal had said on Monday that the government is "studying the emerging hotspots". "We will follow rigorous surveillance and containment measures in these places. Only a ‘minuscule percentage’ of asymptomatic people have tested positive in the country," he said.