The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has marked 12 districts in Tamil Nadu as red zones indicating a need for critical intervention to manage the COVID-19 pandemic more efficiently. The list is a part of the Centre’s identification of 130 districts across the country as red zones, as on April 30.
According to a letter sent by the Secretary of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the districts were identified after a meeting with the Chief Secretaries and the Health Secretaries of all the states held on Thursday.
The letter also mentioned a change in the criteria followed by the Union Ministry in classifying a district into one of the three zones -- red, orange and green. Initially the Centre identified a district as a red, orange or green zone based on the number of COVID-19 cases reported from there in total, and the doubling rate of the cases. However, over time, the number of recoveries in many states have increased, and the Centre has changed the criteria to include more factors like incidence of cases, doubling rate, extent of testing and surveillance feedback.
Based on the new conditions, a district will be reported as a green zone if there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 till date, or if there are no new cases reported in the district for 21 continuous days. “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 COVID19 cases,” the letter said.
Based on these criteria, 12 districts in Tamil Nadu have been identified as red zones -- Chennai (906 COVID-19 cases), Madurai (84), Namakkal (61), Thanjavur (55), Chengalpattu (78), Thiruvallur (55), Tiruppur (112), Ranipet (40), Virudhunagar (32) and Thiruvarur (29).
Further, 24 districts have been marked as orange zones, and one as a green zone by the Centre. Theni, Tenkasi, Nagapattinam, Dindigul, Villupuram, Coimbatore, Cuddalore, Salem, Karur, Thoothukudi, Trichy, Tirupattur, Kanyakumari, Tiruvannamalai, Ramanathapuram, Tirunelveli, Nilgiris, Sivagangai, Perambalur, Kallakurichi, Ariyalur, Erode, Pudukottai and Dharmapuri have been classified as orange zones.
Krishnagiri district is the only district in Tamil Nadu which has been marked as a green zone since there have been zero cases reported from there, so far.
Meanwhile, the government of Tamil Nadu has classified 26 districts in the state as red zone districts based on a different criteria. According to the conditions set by the state government, red zone districts are those which have more than 15 cases of COVID-19 or a doubling rate of less than four days. Orange zone districts are those which either have upto 15 cases of COVID-19 or have not reported a new case in the preceding 14 days. Green zone districts are those which have reported zero new cases in the last 28 days.