Centre identifies 145 new districts as potential Covid-19 hotspots

In a presentation to the representatives of the states, cabinet secretary Rajiv Gaba said eastern India is likely to emerge as the next big Covid-19 hotspot with the return of the migrant workers from the areas having maximum cases of the infection.

The cabinet secretary said 12 states, including West Bengal, Odisha and Bihar, which did not report many cases earlier have seen a rapid increase in the infection in the last three weeks until May 25. Other eastern sates like Tripura and Manipur which had reported cases in single digits earlier are now reporting increase in Covid-19 cases.

Bigger states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradeshand national capital Delhi contributed to the bulk of the cases accounting for 1,65,000 incidents of infection.

There has been a steep rise of coronavirus cases in the last fortnight in India with 75,000 cases reported until May 13.

Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha saw sharp increase in cases "primarily because of the return of migrant workers from Covid-19 hotspot states like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka that cases increased in eastern states", he said, and attributed the lack of proper screening in railway and bus stations owing to huge rush.

The central government identified 145 districts, where states need to "proactively" implement containment measures to ensure they do not emerge as epicentres.

According to the presentation, 2,147 active cases in these districts account for 2.5% of the total cases in India. A total of 20 active cases are from the 26 districts of the 145 identified districts. Half of these districts are in Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh.