Red, orange, green: Indian government might colour-code regions based on reported cases to contain COVID-19

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to state chief ministers yesterday. It is believed that most state leaders want to extend the lockdown in order to contain COVID-19 before the number of jump higher up.

If reports are to be believed, the Indian government could divide the country into three colour-coded zones to facilitate containment and diagnosis.

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The palette is expected to include red, orange, and green zones. The 'red zone' will clearly represent the hardest hit areas, or hotspots. The 'orange zone' will include places with a lot of cases, but not enough to trigger a complete shutoff. And lastly, 'green zones' would most probably include places with the least number of cases

Red Zones

In the red zones, a complete lockdown will continue to be enforced.

These are districts with a sizeable number of cases.And also the ones that have already been declared hotspots by the government.

Red zones will be sealed.And no non-essential movement will be permitted.

Orange Zones

The orange zones are likely to be districts that initially reported a cluster of cases -but have since flattened the curve.

The likes of Bhilwara in Rajasthan could feature in this list.

There will be a limited lockdown in orange zones, with partial operation of public transport.

But most crucially -agriculture harvest will go ahead as planned in orange zones.This will come as a huge relief to farmers living in these districts.

Green zones

Green zones are districts with zero COVID-19 cases.These districts could see minimum curbs -- mostly in the form of strict social distancing norms.

Already in force
Haryana has already moved ahead with this plan.

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that fourdistricts - Faridabad, Palwal, Nuh, andGurgaon will be declared as high-risk red zones in the extended lockdown period.

During the video conference on Saturday --many chief ministers reportedly suggested adding more industries and services to the exempted list.

Reopening liquor shops was a major demand,liquor sales form a sizeable portion of government revenue in most states.

Micro, small, and medium enterprises in the green zones could also be re-opened after April 14.

States also called for restarting farm activities in green and orange zones.

Transport services could also start operating at partial capacity.

Reports indicate that metros, trains, and domestic flights could function at 30 percent capacity in low-risk areas.