Some states opt for hard lockdown as coronavirus cases spike

The number of coronavirus disease cases in the country has almost quadrupled to 700,000 from 190,000 since the Unlock guidelines were enforced.

At a time when most of India is in an Unlock phase, some states have selectively opted for a hard lockdown, confining residents indoors, shutting offices and commercial establishments and taking transport off the streets, to stanch the rising number of Covid-19 cases since restrictions began to be eased on June 1.

Lockdowns were to continue in containment zones and hotspots until July 31, the Union home ministry said, allowing states to identify and demarcate such zones and impose fines on violators. (AP Photo)

The number of coronavirus disease cases in the country has almost quadrupled to 700,000 from 190,000 since the Unlock guidelines were enforced. Lockdowns were to continue in containment zones and hotspots until July 31, the Union home ministry said, allowing states to identify and demarcate such zones and impose fines on violators.

Almost all activities except the opening of educational institutions, cinema halls and metro train services, have been allowed in the Unlock phase.

On Monday, Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala, went into what the state government said was a triple lockdown with almost all offices, shops and public transport closed. Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan worked from his residence, Cliff House. And, at the state secretariat, only the offices of chief secretary, home and revenue secretaries were functional.

In the Thiruvananthapuram municipal corporation limits, 100 wards are fully closed and only essential services like banks, automated teller machines, pharmacies, hospitals, the media, milk booths, petrol pumps and gas agencies were functioning with minimal staff.

Thiruvananthapuram deputy commissioner of police Divya Gopinath said cases would be registered and vehicles seized if people come out of their homes unnecessarily and violators of the restrictions would have to undergo institutional quarantine.

The Kerala government had earlier imposed a triple lockdown in the northern Kasaragod and Kannur districts and in some parts of Malappuram to keep all Covid-19 patients and their primary and secondary contacts inside their houses to prevent community spread of the virus.

Kerala’s coronavirus tally has crossed the 5,000 with 2,228 people under treatment and over 3,000 having recovered. On Sunday, the state reported 225 fresh cases, much fewer than several other small states such as Haryana, West Bengal and Odisha, but the government decided to impose a hard lockdown in the state capital, where half the new cases were reported.

In Assam, the state government is set to extend the lockdown in the state capital of Guwahati, and the rest of Kamrup Metro district, as the number of Covid cases continue to rise. On Sunday, 777 new Covid-19 cases were reported, the single biggest spike in a day in the Kamrup Metro district, taking the district’s tally for 10 days (between June 24 and July 4) to 2,741 cases, nearly one-fourth the total 11,001 cases in the state.

“We have to extend the lockdown in the district for another week as cases continue to rise,” health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said. On June 28, the Assam government had imposed a 14-day hard lockdown in Kamrup Metro district, allowing only pharmacies to operate.

States such as Odisha, Tripura and Karnataka have announced weekend curfews or hard lockdowns to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Bengaluru, the capital of Karnataka, saw its first weekend curfew on June 5, which would continue till August 2, chief minister B S Yediyurappa announced on Sunday, while ruling out a complete lockdown in the state. All shops and business establishments except those selling essential goods and services are closed during the Sunday curfew.

The weekend curfew in Odisha, which started on June 1, has been extended to 18 districts from an earlier 11 for the entire month of July as the number of Covid-19 cases in the state touched 10,000 on Monday.

Around half the cases are locals, unlike in the months of May and June, when a majority of the cases detected were among migrant workers returning home from across the country.

Some of the Odisha districts have added their own conditions to the shutdowns. In Dhenkanal district, the collector banned the entry of the devotees in various Shiva temples during the month of Shravan. In Koraput district, shops and business establishments can run between 7 am and 2 pm. Ganjam has banned non-essential vehicular movement till July 31.

And the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation prohibited labourers belonging to hotspot states or districts from working in the industrial, construction, hotels/hospitality sectors till July 31.

“The weekend curfews help us to ramp up collecting swabs and conducting rapid testing,” saida Odisha health department official who didn’t want to be named.

Tripura’s capital city of Agartala has been under a weekend curfew since July 5. In an order, the state government has imposed 24-hour lockdown, which it says would continue on all Sundays in July.

“Our state is in the Covid-19 stage I. We need to prepare for Stage 2 and 3,” Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb said in announcing the Sunday lockdown. Tripura has reported 1,559 Covid-19 positive cases, of whom 1,199 recovered.

Manipur has also imposed a lockdown in Jiribam district, 220 km west of Imphal, till July 15 after 28 police personnel posted at a border check-post with Assam tested positive. Manipur chief secretary Dr J Suresh Babu said only essential services will be allowed.

“Passenger coming by vehicles at Jiribam gate (from Assam) after the midnight of July 5 will not be allowed to pass and will be put in institutional quarantine at Jiribam,” Babu said. Jiribam district authorities have declared 17 areas as containment zones. Manipur has reported 1,625 Covid cases, of whom 667 have recovered.

(With inputs from state bureaus)