Andhra Pradesh now has five districts designated as red-zones, according to the updated list issued by the Centre based on modified criteria. Earlier, the state had 11 districts in red zones. In districts deemed as red zones, the restrictions of lockdown will continue to apply and may not be lifted post May 3. Moreover, intra-district and inter-district travel will also be subjected to restrictions.
In a letter to the Chief Secretaries of all states and Union territories, Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan noted that some states have raised issues on the inclusion of certain districts in the red-zone. According to the letter, the list is dynamic, and will be reviewed on a weekly basis or earlier.
With this, as of Friday, the Centre has designated 733 districts across all states and UTs into Red, Orange and Green Zones. Currently, there are a total of 130 districts in the red zone, 284 in the orange zone and 319 in the green zone, across India.
Six districts in Andhra which were earlier included in the list of red-zones have now been listed as orange zones.
Earlier, districts were designated as hotspots or red-zones, orange zones and green zones, primarily based on the cumulative cases reported and the doubling rate. Since recovery rates have gone up, the districts are now being designated across various zones duly broad-basing the criteria.
This Centre said that the classification is multifactorial and takes into consideration the incidence of cases, doubling rate, the extent of testing and surveillance feedback to classify the districts. A district will be considered as an orange zone if it has not reported a case in the past 14 days. A district will be considered as a green zone if there are no confirmed cases so far or there is no reported case in the last 21 days.
Here is a list of red, orange and green zones in Andhra Pradesh:
Red zones: Kurnool, Guntur, Krishna, Chittoor, SPSR Nellore
Orange zones: West Godavari, YSR Kadapa, East Godavari, Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam, Anantapur, Prakasam
Green zones: Vizianagaram
For a long time, both Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts had recorded zero cases. This changed recently, with Srikakulam now recording a total of 5 cases.
Kurnool district has seen the highest number of cases so far, and the cases have been rising steadily in the past few days, with the state increasing testing in red and orange zone mandals.
As of Friday morning, Kurnool had registered the highest number of cases, at 411. Guntur (306) and Krishna (246) have the second and third highest number of cases, followed by Nellore (84) and Chittoor (80).
For districts having one or more municipal corporations, the corporations and other areas of districts may be treated as separate units, the letter said. If one or more of these units have reported no cases for the last 21 days, they can be considered as one level lower in zonal classification, in case the district is in the Red/Orange Zone. District authorities have, however, been asked to exercise due caution in such areas so that these areas remain free from COVID19 cases.