The Maharashtra government announced on Sunday that there will be a one-week shutdown in the Amravati state district starting Monday, February 22, due to the increase in novel coronavirus cases.
“The full week-long lockdown remains in effect in the Amravati district excluding the city of Achalpur, starting at 8 pm tomorrow,” Guardian Minister Yashomati Thakur said, adding that essential services are allowed. This means that the shutdown, which is scheduled to begin tomorrow night, will continue until March 1.
The blockade will continue in Amravati until 8 pm on February 28. The other 4 districts in the Amravati division will have restrictions such as the Covid-19 spike in mid-September. The Divisional Commissioner issued a circular in this regard.
The authorities also added that additional restrictions have been imposed on Akola, Yavatmal, Buldhana and Washim.
Earlier today, the Maharashtra government had expressed that it was planning to impose a night curfew in various districts of the state. Maharashtra’s chief minister, Uddhav Thackeray, was expected to chair a meeting today at which a decision will be made, State Aid and Rehabilitation Minister Vijay Wadettiwar reported today.
“Coronavirus cases are increasing daily in various districts of Maharashtra. Because of this, an order to enforce the coronavirus rules has been given to all district magistrates. They have also been authorized to make decisions in view of the pandemic situation “. “Wadettiwar said.
Previously, the Amravati authorities had imposed a weekend shutdown to halt the increasing cases of COVID-19 this week.
In addition, with cases increasing across the state, Pune imposed a nightly curfew on Saturday between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.
Pune’s divisional commissioner said Sunday that no public movement, except those involved in essential services, will be allowed overnight. In addition to this, all schools and universities will also remain closed until February 28.
A weekend closure was announced in the Amravati district, from 8 p.m. Saturday to 7 a.m. Monday, a period during which markets and other establishments will remain closed, but essential services will not be affected.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra reported more than 6,000 new coronavirus cases for the second day in a row on Saturday, a health department official said.
Of 6,281 new cases, more than 1,700 or about 27 percent were reported in the Mumbai and Amravati municipal corporate areas, it said.
The state had registered more than 6,000 cases after a three-month gap on Friday.
While the number of cases rose to 20,93,913 on Saturday, the death toll rose to 51,753 with 40 new deaths.
Additionally, amid an increase in daily new COVID-19 cases in some states, including Maharashtra and Kerala, the Center has recommended increasing the proportion of RT-PCR tests and regularly monitoring mutant strains, as well as refocusing on tight surveillance and tight containment in select districts.
In a letter to the states, the government also emphasized that all negative rapid antigen test results must be mandatorily followed by an RT-PCR test.
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