Hyderabad: In a positive development, nearly 80 per cent of districts in Telangana will soon be in green zone, declared Health Minister Eatala Rajender here on Friday.
Revealing this, the Minister said that 14 districts are all set to join the existing nine districts in the green zone as no COVID-19 case was reported in the last 14 days. Addressing a press conference here on Friday, he said that the State government has formally submitted the list of 14 districts to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
“Presently, we have nine districts in the green zone and if these 14 districts, which are at present in the orange zone, are added to the green zone, then 80 per cent of our districts, especially our villages, will be free from full-fledged lockdown restrictions. We can even operate public transport facilities like buses in these districts,” Rajender said.
The Union Health Ministry, on analysing the situation in these 14 districts, is expected to revise its zone-wise categorisation of districts in Telangana by Monday, he said.
The 14 districts that are likely to be categorised as green zones are Mahabubnagar, Sangareddy, Medak, Kamareddy, Jayashankar Bhupalpally, Karimnagar, Rajanna Sircilla, Mancherial, Narayanpet, Vikarabad, Nalgonda, Jagitial, Asifabad and Jangaon.
As of now, six districts – Hyderabad, Rangareddy, Medchal-Malkajgiri, Suryapet, Warangal Urban and Nizamabad – are red zones.
“For the past 14 days, not a single case has been reported from Suryapet, Warangal Urban and Nizamabad and these three districts will have to be categorised in the orange zone by Health Ministry. In effect, we only have three districts, Hyderabad, Rangareddy and Medchal-Malkajgiri, in the red zone,” Rajender said.
ICMR guidelines
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) guidelines in testing for suspected coronavirus cases were being strictly followed by the State government, Rajender said in a video conference with Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan.
Instead of indiscriminate testing, tests were conducted where necessary. If a positive case is detected, then all symptomatic close contacts were tested and if they don’t have symptoms, then they are kept under home quarantine for 14 days. If a family member of a positive patient is a pregnant woman, they too are tested. “These guidelines are clearly given by ICMR and we are following them strictly. There is no question of less or more testing,” Rajender said.
Full lockdown
The Minister pointed out that lockdown restrictions in red zones were being strictly implemented in those circles where coronavirus positive cases have been reported. Some movement is expected to be allowed in circles where COVID-19 cases have not been reported.
“There are just seven to eight circles that have containment zones in Hyderabad and the lockdown will be strictly implemented there while the curfew will continue across the State from 7 pm everyday. Though Hyderabad, Rangareddy and Medchal-Malkajgiri districts have been categorised as red zone districts, restrictions will come into force only in circles where positive cases are getting reported,” Rajender clarified.
Comments are closed.