Coronavirus - 28 Deaths, 826 New COVID-19 Cases In Last 24 Hours In India

The government on Wednesday released a list of 170 coronavirus hotspot districts.

With 826 new coronavirus cases reported in the last 24 hours in India, the total count rose to 12,759 on Thursday, the Health Ministry said. The number of deaths climbed to 420 with 28 more people dying from COVID-19 across the country.

The Health Ministry said it has held discussions with the officials of World Health Organisation (WHO) on handling coronavirus clusters with the World Health Organisation and discussed containment at the district level.

The government on Wednesday released a list of 170 hotspot districts, which includes all six metros and most large cities.

The list marked 123 districts as "large outbreaks" -- which includes all nine districts of national capital Delhi. Mumbai, Kolkata, nine districts of Bengaluru Urban, Hyderabad, Chennai, Jaipur and Agra were among the areas marked hotspots also on the list.

A "hotspot (red zone) classification" would be districts or cities contributing to more than 80 per cent of the cases in the country or the state. Places that show a high rate of infection -- doubling rate less than four days - will also be in this category.

For a concerted push against the virus in red zones, the government said there should be special teams to conduct door-to-door surveys and tests. The tests will not just be for COVID-19. Patients of influenza-related illness and SARI (severe acute respiratory illness), will also be tested, since such patients have often tested positive for coronavirus.

Some industries in rural areas, e-commerce, IT and farming will be allowed after April 20, the government said on Wednesday in new guidelines a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended the nationwide coronavirus lockdown till May 3 and said restrictions would be relaxed after a week in the least infected parts of India.

The government says it will also allow the construction of roads and buildings in rural areas and the manufacture of IT hardware to reduce the distress of millions during a prolonged lockdown to slow the spread of coronavirus.

States will be responsible for ensuring that all safety and social distancing protocols are in place, the home ministry guidelines say. The exemptions won't apply to hotspots. PM Modi extended the restrictions as India crossed 10,000 coronavirus cases despite a 21-day lockdown.

The inter-state transport of goods, essential and non-essential items, will be allowed after April 20. Highway dhabas, truck repair shops and call centres for government activities can reopen from April 20. So can manufacturing units of pharmaceuticals and medical equipment.