Continuing the rising increase in single-day Covid-19 infections, Maharashtra reported 14,317 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, the highest in 2021 so far. Mumbai, on the other hand, witnessed a drop from yesterday’s figure (1,539) and recorded 1,508 cases in the last 24 hours.
The Center on Thursday expressed concern about the Covid-19 situation in Maharashtra, as eight districts of the state have the highest number of active Covid-19 cases in the country. Districts include Pune (18,474), followed by Nagpur (12,724), Thane (10,460), Mumbai (9,973), Bengaluru Urban (5,526), Ernakulam (5,430), Amravati (5,259), Jalgaon (5,029), Nashik ( 4,525) and Aurangabad (4,354).
“We are very concerned about Maharashtra, in various districts. We have seen their names. When we got here, we realized that a very strict blockade is being imposed on Nagpur in particular. So we are reaching a situation where those approaches are they are applying. “This is a very serious problem for us,” said VK Paul, member of Niti Aayog (health).
Hours earlier, the Nagpur administration announced a strict shutdown from March 15-25 to combat the spread of the infection. Apart from essential services, everything else, including private offices, will be closed.
Before Nagpur, several other districts such as Amravati, Nashik, Yavatmal, Amravati imposed restrictions that sparked speculation as to whether the entire state will come under lockdown again. Maharashtra’s Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray previously expressed reservations against the blockade, but said on Thursday that strict measures can be taken in some places, but as a last resort. When he addressed the state at night, he reiterated that he is not in favor of the closure.
Since mid-February, Maharashtra began to see a sudden increase in the number of Covid-19 cases, which has so far been attributed to lax testing and follow-up. The Center had sent a team to the state to investigate the reasons behind the increase. In their report, the team of experts ruled out any link between the mutant strain of Covid-19 and the spike, mentioning that general neglect, lack of fear, pandemic fatigue, crowded public transport, elections are the reasons for the increase. .
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