Four districts of Kerala have been declared red zones by the state government, reports said on Thursday.
Kasaragod, Kannur, Malappuram and Kozhikode have been marked as high-risk or red zones by the state cabinet where lockdown restrictions will be strictly implemented, Mathrubhumi reported.
The state cabinet said it would be dividing the state into four zones, Manorama News reported.
The state government is looking to get the Centre’s approval for this demarcation.
The four districts along with Ernakulam, Thiruvananthapuram and parts of Wayanad had been included the Centre’s list of hotspots released on Wednesday.
The state cabinet decided that in Pathanamthitta, Ernakulam and Kollam there will be partial lifting of restrictions on April 24,
In Thiruvananthapuram, Alappuzha, Thrissur, Palakkad and Wayanad, public life will be partially allowed to return to normal from April 24, the channel said
In Idukki and Kottayam districts, restrictions will be completed lifted from April 24, it said.
The Union health ministry had on Wednesday asked states to classify districts into hotspots, non-hotspots and green zones.
Districts witnessing high number of cases or high growth rate of infections were to be marked as hotspots; districts where some cases have been found were to be non-hotspots; and those which have reported no cases were to be marked green zones.
Red zone districts are the highest case load districts contributing to more than 80% of cases in the country or highest case load districts contributing to more than 80% of cases in each state.
On Wednesday, Kerala reported only one person coronavirus positive patient, the lowest in recent weeks.
CM Pinarayi Vijayan had said: “In our country, the recovery rate is the highest in Kerala and 218 patients have been completely cured of the disease.There is good progress in testing and we are doing increased numbers now. But we cannot afford to give more exemptions and relaxations in the lockdown conditions.”