227 cases, 5 deaths in 24 hours: Govt identifies 10 coronavirus hotspots

New Delhi, Mar 31: The number of COVID-19 cases in India has touched 1,251. 101 have recovered while 32 have died.

During the 21 day lockdown, the government has stepped up measures to curtail the outbreak of the virus. The government has identified the hotspots where unusual transmission of the coronavirus has taken place.

The government has identified 10 hotspots- Dilshad Garden, Nizamuddin in Delhi, Noida, Meerut, Bhilwara, Ahmedabad, Kassargod, Pathanamthitta, Mumbai and Pune. The hotspots were identified after these places reported 227 cases and five deaths in the past 24 hours.

The decision to identify a hotspot is taken when there are more than 10 cases as a cluster. In the case of Ahmedabad, there was an exception as there were just five cases, but three deaths. The assessment normally is that there are 100 cases for every death.

Meanwhile the health ministry has stepped up testing in the hotspots. However it would be done only as per testing protocol. The ministry also clarified that so far there is no community transmission of the virus, which means it has not entered Stage-3 as yet.

The ministry also added that it was studying the emerging hotspots. We will follow rigorous surveillance and containment measures in these places. Only a minuscule percentage of asymptomatic people have tested positive in the country, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health, Lav Agarwal said.