Coronavirus in India: Home Ministry releases guidelines for containment zones and hotspots

The Ministry of Home Affairs issued a set of guidelines to be followed during the extended guidelines. Containment zones across the country had slightly different norms than the rest of the country. The government stated that if the rules are followed perfectly, then some restrictions will be eased for certain areas after April 20. However, it said that there will be no relaxation of any norm in the containment zones. It also restricted a host of services in these zones.

Here are the guidelines issued by the Union Home Ministry on containment zones and hotspots:

• Hotspots or areas with a large number of COVID-19 cases or clusters with significant spread of the virus will be demarcated by the states, Union Territories and District administrations in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Health Ministry.

• Containment zones will be earmarked by the states, UTs and district administration. All activities barring essential services such as medical emergencies and law enforcement would not be allowed in these areas.

• The guidelines issued by the Ministry further state, "There shall be stricter perimeter control in the area of the containment zones to ensure that there is no unchecked inward/ outward movement of population from these zones."

These guidelines come a day after the Prime Minister's speech on lockdown extension wherein he stated, "We have to be very careful about hotspots. We will have to keep a close watch on the paces which are expected to be converted into hotspots. Creating new hotspots will further challenge our hard work and our austerity."

Multiple states have announced containment zones. However, Delhi and Maharashtra - two of the most-affected states - have issued a long list of containment zones.  Number of containment zones in Delhi has reached to 55 after 8 more areas were added as of April 14, 2020. These containment zones include areas like Markaz Masjid and Nizamuddin Basti, Pratap Khand, Jhilmil Colony, Chandni Mahal, Jain Mohalla in Chirag Delhi, affected area near Gandhi Park in Malviya Nagar, area around shop no. J-4/49, Khirki Extension, Khirki Village,etc. Maharashtra has identified areas such as the Saat Rasta at Jacob Circle, Momipura, Gitanjali Square and Hasanbagh as containment zones

The number of coronavirus cases has reached 11,439 in India whereas 377 people have died due to COVID-19 so far. According to Health Ministry data, 1,305 people have been cured or discharged and 1 patient has been migrated as of April 15, 2020, 08:00 am.

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