Hotspot districts moving towards being non-hotspot districts: Health minister

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Sunday said the coronavirus situation in the country is improving as many hotspot districts (HSD) are moving towards being non-hotspot districts (NHSD).

Hevisited All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Trauma Centre and take stock of the preparedness to overcome COVID-19, a statement from the ministry said.

On April 15, the health ministry declared 170 districts as COVID-19 hotspots and 207 districts as non-hotspots.

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Hotspots are those districts which are reporting more number of cases or where the rate of growth of COVID-19 cases is high, the ministry said, adding that a detailed direction has been issued to states stating consolidated efforts are required to utilise this period of lockdown to curb the spread of the deadly virus.

The districts that have not reported any cases yet have also been directed to work on cluster containment plans, the ministry said.

Since then there have been no updates on the number of hotspots from the health ministry.

On Sunday, during his visit, the health minister spoke to some COVID-19 positive patients through video calling and enquired about their health. Robots handled the technology at the patients' end, it said.

Vardhan also sought their feedback about the facilities available at AIIMS so that necessary improvements can be made, the statement said.

(With inputs from PTI)