GUWAHATI, June 24: At least 220 hotspot zones have been identified by the Assam government across districts placed in the “red” category with new guidelines for breaking the COVID-19 transmission chain in these districts to be announced on Saturday.
About 15 districts where the COVID-19 positivity rate has exceeded the two percent mark in the past one week have been placed in the “red” category, with Morigaon and Golaghat districts reporting a higher positivity rate of over 4 percent, while Jorhat is precariously placed just below 4 percent.
However, districts such as Kamrup Metro and Bongaigaon, where the COVID situation has drastically improved and which have recorded a positivity rate of just 1 percent and below 1 percent respectively on Thursday, have been placed in the “green” category.
The state health department has already hinted that stricter restrictions would be imposed in the “red” districts from next week while curbs such as curfew would be relaxed in the “green” districts.
“As many as 220 hot spot zones have been identified by the state government. The district administration will either opt for district-wise containment or hot spot containment of COVID-19 in the next few days. The final decision will be made after assessing the COVID situation in all the districts,” chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma informed reporters.
Sarma further claimed that the COVID situation in districts such as Cachar, Tinsukia and Dibrugarh has improved with the positivity rate dropping below 2 percent.
“Relaxation will be provided in districts where the COVID situation has improved,” the chief minister said, adding that the intensified vaccination drive across the state will further improve the situation.
As it is, over 9.70 lakh people across the state have been vaccinated under the accelerated vaccination campaign of the state government in just three days with the health department achieving the target of 3lakh vaccinations per day.