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Govt says Covid-19 situation ‘especially serious’ in Mumbai, Kolkata, Jaipur, Indore
Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday to enquire about the lynching of three people in the state’s Palghar area.
The Covid-19 situation is “especially serious” in Mumbai, Pune, Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata and a few other places in West Bengal, and violation of lockdown measures risk the spread of the novel coronavirus, the Centre said on Monday.
In a communication to state governments, the home ministry said there have been several incidents of violence against Covid-19 frontline healthcare professionals, complete violation of social distancing norms and movement of vehicles in urban areas. These should be stopped, it said.
The Centre’s note case as the death toll due to Covid-19 rose to 543 and the number of cases climbed to 17,265 in the country on Monday.
Meanwhile, Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to enquire about the lynching of three people in the state’s Palghar area, according to news agency PTI.
During the telephonic conversation, Thackeray apprised the home minister about the incidents and the steps taken to nab those involved in the incident, PTI quoted officials as saying.
The Maharashtra government has ordered a high-level investigation into the Palghar mob lynching incident in which three people were killed on Thursday night. “Police have detained 101 people involved in the killing of three Surat-bound people in Palghar. I have also ordered a high level inquiry into these killings,” Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said on Twitter.
Deshmukh also warned officials against giving any communal colour to the incident, as two of the three deceased were allegedly seers.
There are 4,203 confirmed coronavirus cases in Maharashtra of which 223 people lost their lives, according to Union health ministry data.
In Madhya Pradesh, out of the 1,407 cases, 70 people have succumbed to the disease.
The central government has constituted six inter-ministerial central teams to make on-spot assessment of the Covid-19 situation in these places and issue necessary directions to the four states - Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and West Bengal - for redressal.
