Mumbai, Pune and Pathanamthitta — have emerged as "real hotspots of India with transmission even in second and third generation contacts of the index patient" as India recorded single-day spike of 194 patients.
Of the 312 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cases reported fromacross the country in the last three days, 80% were from 16 cities anddistricts. Five of these — Delhi, Mumbai, Bhilwara (Rajasthan), Kasaragod(Kerala) and Nawanshahr (Punjab) — account for over 40% of these cases.
The other districts which saw a spike in the last three days are Indore and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh; Pathanamthitta and Kannur in Kerala; Pune and Sangli in Maharashtra; Gautam Buddh Nagar in Uttar Pradesh; Ahmedabad (Gujarat), Karimnagar (Telangana), Leh (Ladakh) and Chennai (Tamil Nadu).
A government source said three of these areas — Mumbai, Puneand Pathanamthitta — have emerged as "real hotspots, with transmission even insecond and third generation contacts of the index patient".
The number of districts which have reported COVID-19 casesnow stands at 132; it was 75 when the 21-day lockdown was imposed earlier thisweek. For about 80-odd cases, the districts from where they have been reportedare still being ascertained.
Meanwhile, Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Healthand Family Welfare, said: "As the situation is evolving, our focus is on highdisease burden hotspots where, along with the state government, we are doingcommunity surveillance, rigorous contact tracing and containment strategy. Weare ensuring effective implementation of the lockdown and social distancing. Weare also concentrating on health infrastructure preparedness, dedicatedhospitals and ICU beds for COVID patients."
He said both the patients who died in the last 24 hours wereabove 65 years; one had hypertension and diabetes.
While all international flights have been stopped since March 22, there is a special focus on those who arrived at the international airports in Indore, Bhopal, Kannur, Surat and Ahmedabad before that. The process of tracing contacts can take a long time, said officials.
