The YSRCP government in Andhra Pradesh has re-classified the red zones based on the infections at mandal level. This goes against the district-level classification announced by the Centre. Already, 11 out of the total 13 districts in AP were announced as red zone hotspot districts by the Union Health Ministry. But now, the Jagan Reddy government has announced only a few mandals in each of these districts as red zones. Obviously, red zone restrictions would be enforced only in these specific mandals but not the entire districts as announced by the Centre.
Now, the State government declared 97 out of the total 676 mandals as hotspots. As per the Centre, 84.6 per cent of AP districts are in red zone. As per the State based on mandal level classification, only 14.34 per cent of the state is in red zone. Kurnool has 17 hotspot mandals, which is the highest number in the state. Nellore has 14 red zone mandals, Guntur 12, Prakasam 9, East Godavari 8, Chittoor 8, Kadapa 7, Krishna 5, Anantapur 5 and Vizag 3.
The Opposition parties are criticising CM Jagan Reddy for continuing his ulterior political agenda without any regard for the people’s lives. They say virus is slipping out of control in AP because of the state government’s political games.