COVID-19 Lockdown: What are red, orange & green zones?

April 16: Countrywide lockdown has been extended in India till 3 May, 2020. Red, orange and green – the colour code for traffic lights will now be used on the country’s map to COVID-19 and virus-free zones. So what are these zones, and how will they impact the economic activity in the country: Red Zone- Hotspot & fully sealed, Orange Zone- Marginally opened, no new cases, Green Zone- COVID-19 free districts.

Red Zone: The Centre has named hotspot districts as Red Zone as it needs to have focused attention in these areas reporting a large number of COVID-19 cases and high growth rate. In other words, Red Zone means the districts where sizeable number of cases were detected or areas which were declared hotspots. The govt will try to provide essential commodities to this zone. Further, hotspots (designated Red Zones) will be assumed to be undertaking effective containment activities if no case is reported in the next 14 days (designated Orange Zones).

Orange Zone: The areas with a limited number of cases in the past and with no surge in positive cases recently would be included under the orange zone. Only restricted activities such as limited public transport and farm product harvesting are expected to be allowed in the coronavirus orange zone. A hotspot district can be turned to Orange Zone when no cases are reported in the last 14 days.

Green Zone: For the Green Zone, the health ministry stated that a district that has not reported positive coronavirus cases can be marked under this zone. Also, any district currently in hotspots can be moved to the Green category if no new cases arise in 28 days. Exemptions may be given in these sectors as per the government’s plan.