Nagpur under 7-day lockdown from today. Details here

According to the order, private offices will also remain closed for the period of the lockdown and government offices will function at 25 per cent capacity.

Maharashtra’s Nagpur district will be placed under a week-long lockdown from Monday as cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) are surging in the area as well as the state. According to the order issued by the Nagpur district administration, only essential services such as vegetable, fruit shops and milk booths will stay open. “A complete lockdown to remain imposed in Nagpur city police commissionerate area from March 15 to March 21. Essential services will continue," Nagpur’s guardian minister Nitin Raut said.

Nagpur Police commissioner Amitesh Kumar said traffic will be closely watched during the period in order to discourage people from going out of their houses unnecessarily. (HT Photo) (HT Photo)

According to the order, private offices will also remain closed for the period of the lockdown and government offices will function at 25 per cent capacity. Weekly markets, as well as malls, will also remain closed during the lockdown and public functions, gatherings and weddings are prohibited for the period of the lockdown. Restaurants have been allowed to operate till 9pm whereas home delivery of food will be closed after 10pm. Nagpur Police commissioner Amitesh Kumar said traffic will be closely watched during the period in order to discourage people from going out of their houses unnecessarily.

Nagpur has been reporting a spike in cases of the coronavirus disease cases since the last month. The district recorded 1,976 Covid-19 infections on Sunday, which took the tally to 173,547. Other than Nagpur, some restrictions are also in place in other districts of Maharashtra. The Latur district administration on Sunday imposed a night curfew between 8pm and 5am in the district. Aurangabad, Parbhani, Osmanabad, Pune, Nanded, Thane, Palghar, Jalgaon and Nashik are other places in Maharashtra that have put restrictions due to Covid-19.

Maharashtra reported 16,062 Covid-19 cases on Sunday after clocking over 15,000 infections on each of the past two days. It also breached the 2.3 million mark as the count reached 2,314,413. Active cases in the state climbed to 126,213 and its death toll reached 52,861, with 50 fatalities reported in the last 24 hours.