Covid-19: In Maharashtra’s Aurangabad, gatherings banned till April 4

As coronavirus cases surge in Aurangabad, amid a fresh wave in Maharashtra, the district administration had, last Saturday, also announced a complete lockdown during weekends till further orders.

With cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) rising in Maharashtra, officials in the state’s Aurangabad district on Wednesday announced prohibitory order on gathering of people till April 4, according to news agency ANI. The order, issued by the district collector, district magistrate and police commissioner, directed that five or more people shall not be allowed to gather, in view of the spread of the viral disease.

Wednesday’s order comes days after the Aurangabad district administration, last Saturday, announced that there will be a complete lockdown in the district during weekends until further orders, while a partial shutdown will be in effect during weekdays, till April 4. Till the day before the order, according to the administration, Aurangabad’s infection tally was at 57,755 including 5,569 active cases.

Aurangabad’s total tally of coronavirus cases crossed 60,000 on Tuesday, as 1,271 new cases took the district’s overall caseload to 60,100. Seven more deaths on the day took the death toll to 1,351. Total 52,073 people have recovered from the disease thus far, while active cases stand at 6,676.

Maharashtra, whose Covid-19 tally has been the highest in the country since last year, has been at the epicentre of a fresh wave in recent days. At a press conference on Wednesday, Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said that the western state currently accounts for 60% of all active cases in the country. On Wednesday, 17,864 fresh infections were detected in Maharashtra, its highest this year, taking its caseload to 2,347,328, while the death toll rose to 52,996 with 87 fatalities. Total 2,154,253 patients have recovered while active cases are at 138,813.

While chief minister Uddhav Thackeray has ruled out a state-wide lockdown for now, he has urged citizens to not force him to impose one. However, administrations in various districts have announced curbs locally. The city of Nagpur entered a week-long on Monday, which will end on March 21.