Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray warned that more districts could face the blockade.
New Delhi:
The Center is “very concerned” about the increase in coronavirus cases in Maharashtra, NITI Aayog member Dr. VK Paul said on Thursday, adding that the virus cannot be taken for granted if the country has to remain free of Covid. The comment comes on a day when the Maharashtra government announced a week-long shutdown, March 15-21, in Nagpur, which reported more than 1,800 cases in 24 hours.
“When we were arriving here for this press conference, we learned that a strict lockdown is being imposed on Nagpur. Therefore, we are reaching a situation where those approaches are recovering,” said Dr. Paul.
“We are very concerned about Maharashtra. This is a serious matter. This has two lessons: do not take the virus for granted, and if we are to remain Covid-free, then we must follow appropriate Covid behavior.” added.
The Union Health Ministry said today that eight of the 10 cities with the highest number of active cases belong to Maharashtra. They are: Pune, Nagpur, Thane, Mumbai, Amravati, Jalgaon, Nashik and Aurangabad.
Maharashtra, the country’s hardest-hit state, reported 13,659 daily cases of coronavirus today, which is 60 percent of the country’s single-day total.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray warned that more districts could face the blockade.
“Some areas of Maharashtra will witness strict lockdown measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus infection. The government will hold a special meeting with officials before issuing the lockdown measures,” he said.
Close contact tests, rapid contact tracing, massive hot spot testing and death auditing are some of the steps the state government is taking to stop the growth of the virus.
Six states – Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu – have reported more than 85 percent of the total cases, the Health Ministry said today.
“Today, Maharashtra has more than 1 lakh of active cases. Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Haryana are at the tipping point. We have had three meetings with these states where they have been told to roll up their socks,” said a senior official from the Ministry of Health. .
With contributions from ANI
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