With 227 cases reported on Monday, the total number of positive cases of Coronavirus in India has crossed 1,250 and killed 32 people.
According to a report in the Indian Express, the government has identified 10 hotspots across the country.
The report quoted officials as saying that "a place is identified as a 'cluster' where more than 10 cases are detected" while “hotspots” are the places where several clusters are detected.
The hotspots that have emerged across the country are Dilshad Garden and Nizamuddin in Delhi, Noida, Meerut, Bhilwara, Ahmedabad, Kasargod, Pathanamthitta, Mumbai, and Pune.
Nizamuddin: Nizamuddin in Delhi has emerged as a hotspot after several people who took part in a religious congregation there earlier this month showed symptoms of coronavirus. Over 2,000 delegates, including from Indonesia and Malaysia, attended the congregation of Tabligh-e-Jamaat, a Muslim religious organisation, from March 1-15. Police and paramilitary personnel cordoned off a major area and over 200 people have been kept in isolation in different hospitals.
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Bhilwara: In Rajasthan’s Bhilwara, six doctors and medical staff of a private hospital tested positive on March 19, leading to more than 20 lakh people being surveyed. Since then, 26 positive cases (as of March 30) have been found in the city.
Meerut: In Meerut, 13 cases have been reported, all of which are relatives and acquaintances of one infected person who came back from Dubai and took public transport to visit his in-laws in the city. 35 people have been put under quarantine
Gautam Buddha Nagar: Uttar Pradesh’s Gautam Buddha Nagar has recorded 38 COVID-19 cases so far, highest in the state. Currently, 1,865 people are under surveillance across Noida and Greater Noida, while another 268 are quarantined -- 69 of them at a Gautam Buddha University hostel and the rest in special isolation facilities at hospitals in Noida and Greater Noida. According to the officials, at least 22 COVID-19 cases in the district could be traced directly or indirectly to a private company, Cease Fire, in Sector-135 of Noida.
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Mumbai: In Mumbai, officials suspect that the coronavirus has now percolated into the slums where it can spread easily as social distancing is not possible. Maharashtra has so far notched 10 COVID-19 deaths, including 8 in Mumbai, and one each in Pune and Buldhana. Mumbai has the highest number of positive cases at over 125 followed by Pune, Thane and Sangli.
Ahmedabad: There have been three COVID-19 deaths in Ahmedabad so far. Indian Express quoted a source in the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme as saying, “…Ahmedabad is an exception — there have been just five cases, but three deaths. Our assessment normally is that there are 100 cases for every death. That is why Ahmedabad is a hotspot in our list. Three deaths and five cases do not add up.”
Kasaragod district in Kerala has become a COVID-19 hotspot with 82 positive cases so far. Kasaragod is the northern district of Kerala that shares most of its boundary with Karnataka. According to a report in The Print, 72 of the 82 positive cases are of people with travel history from Dubai. Several of these patients belonged to Naif, a crowded commercial-cum-residential area of Dubai, which has emerged as a Covid-19 hotspot.
Kerala’s Pathanamthitta district has been identified as another COVID-19 hotspot. According to a report in Business Standard, most of the infected people had returned from the Gulf, and they had travelled across the district before being diagnosed.
