Coronavirus: Pune is the worst affected district in India, the center said this week (Archive)
Pune:
Faced with an alarming spike in Covid cases, authorities in Pune, Maharashtra, have ordered a 12-hour curfew starting at 6 a.m. tomorrow for a period of at least a week, with a review of the order and the Coronavirus situation in the district scheduled for next Friday.
Religious sites, hotels and bars, shopping malls and cinemas will be closed for the next seven days, Pune Division Commissioner Saurabh Rao said on Friday afternoon.
In this period, only home deliveries of food, medicine and other essential services will be allowed.
Pune is among the worst affected areas in India as a result of a new wave of infections.
8,011 new cases were reported on Thursday. This was the second consecutive 24-hour period to cross that mark, after 8,605 were detected, Pune’s largest single-day peak, on Wednesday.
As cases rise, Pune Mayor Murlidhar Mohol on Thursday ordered private hospitals to make 80 percent of beds available for COVID-19 patients. However, Mohol played down talks about a lockdown to slow the spread of the virus, saying “there is currently no serious need.”
“Instead, we must increase testing, screening and vaccination campaigns,” he told the ANI news agency, warning of stricter measures if the increase in cases cannot be controlled soon.
Pune has reported more than 16,000 new Covid cases in the last 48 hours (archive)
In addition to Pune, the state capital Mumbai has also seen a worrying increase in Covid cases. On Thursday, Mumbai reported 8,646 new cases, the highest in a 24-hour period.
Mumbai authorities have also stepped up measures to control the spread of the virus, including conducting random Covid tests on people in public places like shopping malls and bus stations, where they say many are breaking the rules by not wearing face masks or maintain social distance.
And, like Pune, the city is also bracing for a shortage of hospital beds and equipment.
“Cases are increasing daily in Mumbai … this is cause for concern. Due to the sudden increase, you are also seeing a shortage of beds and fans. We have been appealing to people since last March, but they are showing carelessness.” Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar said.
“Nobody wants the closure, but … given the way that cases are increasing and creating pressure on the health infrastructure … some strict measures will have to be taken,” he added.
The increase in Covid cases is a problem throughout Maharashtra as a whole; This morning’s data showed that more than 43,000 were reported in the last 24 hours. To stop the virus, a number of measures have been put in place, including limiting movie theaters, hallways and offices to 50 percent of capacity.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will address the state at 8.30pm.
This morning’s data showed that 81,466 new coronavirus cases were reported across India, the most in a day since December 6.
The worsening Covid situation in India is due to a new strain of the virus, Dr. Randeep Guleria, director of the AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) in Delhi told NDTV on Wednesday.
With contributions from ANI
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