Curbs in 388 ‘containment zones’ set to continue beyond May 3
T.N. records 56 new cases of COVID-19; total stands at 1,323
18/04/2020 , T. RAMAKRISHNAN, CHENNAI
No-go area: A barricade at a containment zone in Chintadripet. R. Ragu
On a day when Tamil Nadu recorded 56 new cases of COVID-19, taking the tally to 1,323, Chief Secretary K. Shanmugam indicated that the ‘containment zones’, numbering 388 across 34 districts, might stay in place even beyond May 3, when the extended lockdown is scheduled to end.
Mr. Shanmugam on Friday said that as per the guidelines of the Central government, any such zone would have to continue as it is till the “last reported positive case” of COVID-19 was cleared. There was, therefore, no link between the duration of the lockdown and the continuance of containment zones.
Of the containment zones in the State, rural areas account for 239 of them and urban areas 149, according to data available with the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine.
For a person who has tested positive to be discharged from hospital, the protocol is that he should have no symptoms, test negative twice and undergo 14 days’ hospitalisation, after which he will have another 14 days of home quarantine, said Health Secretary Beela Rajesh.
Explaining the Centre’s norms, Mr. Shanmugam said that if a ‘red’ area (a hotspot) does not report a fresh case for 14 days, it will turn ‘orange’. If the trend continues for a further 14 days, it will be turn ‘green’. In other words, it will take 28 days for a hotspot to turn green, he clarified.
On a day when Tamil Nadu recorded 56 new cases of COVID-19, taking the tally to 1,323, Chief Secretary K. Shanmugam indicated that the ‘containment zones’, numbering 388 across 34 districts, might stay in place even beyond May 3, when the extended lockdown is scheduled to end.
Mr. Shanmugam on Friday said that as per the guidelines of the Central government, any such zone would have to continue as it is till the “last reported positive case” of COVID-19 was cleared. There was, therefore, no link between the duration of the lockdown and the continuance of containment zones.
Of the containment zones in the State, rural areas account for 239 of them and urban areas 149, according to data available with the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine.
For a person who has tested positive to be discharged from hospital, the protocol is that he should have no symptoms, test negative twice and undergo 14 days’ hospitalisation, after which he will have another 14 days of home quarantine, said Health Secretary Beela Rajesh.
Explaining the Centre’s norms, Mr. Shanmugam said that if a ‘red’ area (a hotspot) does not report a fresh case for 14 days, it will turn ‘orange’. If the trend continues for a further 14 days, it will be turn ‘green’. In other words, it will take 28 days for a hotspot to turn green, he clarified.
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