Maharashtra Covid-19 tally crosses 2.1 million

Maharashtra on Sunday crossed a grim milestone of recording more than 2

Maharashtra on Sunday crossed a grim milestone of recording more than 2.1 million cases, which coincided with spike in cases and lockdown in a few districts, since the pandemic broke out in the state in March 2020. The state recorded 6,971 new Covid-19 infections, highest one-day spike in last 121 days since October 23, when the state clocked 7,347 cases. The state’s Covid case tally reached 21,00,884, while toll was pushed to 51,799 with 35 new deaths.

Despite the steady rise in cases and appeals from authorities, social distancing and other Covid-19 norms seem lost in the crowd at Juhu beach on Sunday. (Pratik Chorge/HT Photo)

Mumbai which has also recorded a steady increase in cases for the past few days, reported 921 new infections on Sunday, taking to count to 319,128.

The spike has forced many districts and cities such as Amravati, Akola, Yavatmal, Pune, Nashik, Parbhani to impose stricter curbs on movement of the people. Amravati city will be placed under lockdown for a week starting Monday, 8pm, guardian minister Yashomati Thakur, said on Sunday. Only essential services will be allowed to function during the lockdown. This will be the first lockdown after the state initiated Mission Begin Again or unlocking activities.

A few other districts in Vidarbha and other parts of the state have imposed other curbs, including night curfew, weekend lockdown, announced closure of the schools and colleges and started penalising people, establishments for not following Covid-19 protocol.

Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray issued an ultimatum to people, warning them of a lockdown if Covid-19 protocol was not followed properly. “It all depends on you, whether you want a lockdown or you are ready to follow the norms to avoid it. The lockdown this time will be more difficult to follow. It will be known only after a week or two if we are facing the second wave of pandemic,” he said. He also announced a ban on social, religious, political gatherings and protests that attract crowding for the next few weeks.

The number of cases in Amravati has been increasing rapidly over the past few days. On Saturday, Amravati (both district and city) reported 1,055 cases, while on Sunday, 926 cases were reported in the district. Nashik guardian minister Chhagan Bhujbal on Sunday announced night curfew will be imposed in the city between 11pm and 5am, however, essential services do not come under the curb.

Amravati collector Shelesh Nawal said, “Lockdown has been imposed in Amravati city from 8pm on Monday for seven days.”

An order issued by divisional commissioner of Amravati division which governs five Vidarbha districts (Amravati, Akola, Washim, Yavatmal, Buldhana) on Sunday stated all the exemptions granted during the state’s Mission Begin Again initiative stand canceled. The operations of shops and establishments have been restricted to 9am to 5pm, while the attendance in private and public offices has been brought down to 15% or 15 employees, whichever is more. The hotels in these districts have been shut down allowing them to continue with the take away service, while wedding ceremonies are allowed with only 25 invitees. Weekend curfew from 5pm on Saturday to 9am on Monday has already been imposed in these districts.

The state breached the one million mark on September 11, a little over six months after the first case was detected on March 9. It took the state 187 days to cross the 1 million mark, followed by another 132 days for 2 million cases on January 21, 2021.

While there are 10 more days for the month to end, the state has already recorded 77,122 cases in February, compared to 92,177 new cases in January and 1,20,684 cases in December 2020. Between February 1 and 15, Pune, Mumbai, and Nagpur added more than 3,000 cases each, while Amravati and Thane recorded more than 2,000 cases each.

The number of active cases in the state is 52,956 after 2,417 recoveries were recorded on Sunday.

It also recorded six deaths taking the toll to 11,446. Other cities like Pune, Nagpur, and Nashik also recorded 640, 599, and 291 cases respectively.

Dr Subhash Salunkhe, advisor to the state on Covid control, said, “In the past one week, cases have doubled by 35%. It is like people are inviting trouble upon themselves. Even after so many appeals by the government, Covid appropriate behavior is not being followed. It is absolutely unfortunate. What can the government do in such a situation if not increase restrictions?”

Salunkhe further said that the transmission is now increasing in other rural districts apart from Akola and Amravati also.

District collectors or municipal commissioners have been empowered to restrict the invitees at the wedding ceremonies. As per the state guidelines issued in the past, 50 invitees are allowed for the wedding ceremonies, while the number in five districts of Vidarbha has been reduced to 25. “There is no ban on the wedding ceremony, but the attendance has been restricted to arrest the spread,” said an official from the relief and rehabilitation department.