The Union Health Ministry on Wednesday stated that the country will be 3 categories - hotspot districts, non-hotspot districts but where cases are being reported and green zone districts in the period of the lockdown.

During the daily press briefing, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Health Lav Agarwal stated that the government has asked the states to segregate the districts based on the number of cases they have reported. While the regions with the most cases are coronavirus hotspots or red zones, non-hotspots or orange zones are those districts where less number of cases are found. The districts where no case has been found is the green zone.

As per data till yesterday, 170 districts have been classified as hotspot districts. Non-hotspot districts where cases have been reported are 207 in number," adding "Cluster containment plan needs to be implemented in those 207 non-hotspots as they can develop as potential hotspots," Aggarwal said.

It is imperative that our readers know how the administration monitors these hotspots:

Red Zone areas: A door-door screening is conducted in every household in the area to search for suspected patients. People in the area showing symptoms of coronavirus-cough and fever are tested for COVID-19. The areas within the district are completely sealed so that there are no movements within the sealed areas. Some buffer zones are also created near the sealed area where only emergency movements are allowed. Essential goods are delivered to the doorstep of every individual.

An area is classified into a red zone after a maximum number of coronavirus cases have been reported from the area.

Meanwhile, the orange zone is the area where no of coronavirus cases reported fall within the range of one or two. The restrictions in the orange zone are not as strict as the green zone.

A green zone is an area where no coronavirus cases have been reported. In these areas, the Centre is making efforts to lift certain lockdown restrictions in the area in the coming weeks provided that no new cases are reported in the area.

The districts in the Red zone can become Orange zone if no new cases reported in the last 14 days, while the orange zone can convert into the Green zone if no case is reported in the last 14 days.

This way, if a Red zone has to convert to the Green Zone, it will take 28 days with no new cases.

In India, the total number of coronavirus cases in India has risen to 12380. Out of all the cases, 1489 people have been cured.