Fear of spread looms, Karnataka wants 14 red districts

Proposal comes after increase in cases in orange, green zones, but Centre yet to decide
Visual of Mysore Road in Bengaluru amid COVID-19 Lockdown in Karnataka on Tuesday. (Photo | Pandarinath B/EPS)
Visual of Mysore Road in Bengaluru amid COVID-19 Lockdown in Karnataka on Tuesday. (Photo | Pandarinath B/EPS)

BENGALURU: The sudden spike in Covid cases from districts initially identified as ‘Red Zones’ as per the state government’s classification, but had to be downgraded as ‘Orange Zones’ as per the Union government’s criteria has spooked the state government. With lockdown restriction eased drastically in Orange and Green zones despite big numbers, the state government is worried about the possible rapid spread of coronavirus. The state has already voiced its concern to the Centre and has proposed that 14 out of the 30 districts be categorised as ‘Red’.

“We had decided to deem all districts with more than five active cases as Red Zones, but the Centre did not accept it. We are now categorising districts as per Centre’s guidelines, but cases are increasing. We have sought 14 districts to be categorised as Red Zones,” said Health Minister B Sriramulu. He said that district authorities have been told to ensure restrictions that apply to Red Zones in these districts as a precaution. “We are identifying and sealing containment zones, while testing secondary contacts even in orange zones,” he said.

The state has also asked the Centre to allow door-to-door collection of samples for testing in Red Zones. On May 1, before the Centre’s classification kicked in, Karnataka had identified 14 districts as Red Zones, four as orange and 12 as green zones. Karnataka’s classification was ‘case-centric’, and districts that had not reported cases in the last 28 days were categorised as ‘Green zones’.

Districts that hadn’t registered any new cases in the last 14 days but had at least one case 15 to 28 days were classified as ‘Orange Zone’. Any district that had reported even one case in the last 14 days was identified as ‘Red Zone’. But the Centre had its own criteria.

“Districts shall be defined as Red Zones by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, taking into account total number of active cases, doubling rate of confirmed cases, extent of testing and surveillance feedback,” the Union Home Ministry’s order on May 1 said. It noted that districts that haven’t reported a single case in the last 21 days were to be deemed as Green zones and all others that don’t qualify for both categories will be deemed Orange Zones. By May 2, the state had converted its zones as per the Centre’s guidelines marking only three districts as ‘Red’, 14 as Orange and 13 as green.

Bengaluru Rural with just one case on May 2 was classified as ‘Red Zone’, while districts like Kalaburagi and Belgavi with 45 and 61 cases respectively were categorised as Orange. As on May 5, 15 districts in Karnataka were categorised as orange with Haveri adding to the list but there were no changes made to ‘Red Zones’. Bengaluru Rural had zero cases on May 5 but continues to be marked as ‘Red Zone’. While the MHA order said that the list would be updated on a weekly basis, the prolonged wait for changes given the infectious nature of the virus has become a concern.

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