Hyderabad: The last few days have seen a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases being reported across some states in India. The sudden surge has got the state governments worried, forcing them to impose curfews to curb the spread of the virus.
As per the latest health ministry data, India’s total COVID-19 active caseload has reached 2,19,262, comprising 1.93 percent of the total infections.
In the last 24 hrs, 24,492 new cases were registered and Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka cumulatively account for 79.73 percent of India’s total active cases.
Union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Monday pointed to people’s disregard for social distancing and other guidelines. Vardhan also said that cases are on the rise in a few states only.
“Around 85% of cases are in five to six states. The main reason behind the increase in cases is people not taking COVID-19 appropriate behaviour,” the health minister was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Concerns of the second wave are also on the rise. Dr Randeep Guleria, Director of the AIIMS told NDTV: “The data from the last few days do suggest that we are seeing another wave coming and we need to be very aggressive and very careful so that the new wave does not become as big as in the past. We must learn the lessons from the past and implement them so that we can save lives.”
As per the recent reports, Maharashtra alone accounts for more than 58 percent of the total active cases in the country. However, with the rise in the number of Covid-19 cases, we may witness a possible second wave of novel coronavirus infections.
Following this, some states have imposed lockdown and night curfews. Have a look at the complete list below:
Gujarat
Gujarat reported 890 new Covid-19 cases on Monday which took the state’s tally to 279,097. Following this, the state government has decided to impose a curfew from 10 pm to 6 am in four cities. Among the major cities, Surat has been reporting the highest number of Covid-19 cases in the state, followed by Ahmedabad, Vadodara, and Rajkot.
Maharashtra
In the last ten days, Maharashtra has reported the highest number of cases. Pune, Nagpur, and Mumbai have reported nearly 1,000 new cases every day for the last ten days, according to government data. The state continues to be the worst-affected state with the highest number of cases.
To stem the rising COVID-19 cases, a week-long lockdown from March 15 to 21 in Nagpur City has been imposed.
Nasik has also has imposed a curfew from 7 pm to 7 am while keeping the schools shut. A night curfew has been imposed in Pune from 11 pm to 6 am
Punjab
Punjab reported an alarming spike in fresh cases of Covid-19 triggering a second wave concern for the authorities as the active caseload skyrocketed to 11,942 on Tuesday. A night curfew has been imposed in Patiala, Ludhiana, Mohali, and Fatehgarh Sahib.
Besides, a complete lockdown was announced in Uttarakhand’s Mussoorie in areas of Galway Cottage, St. George’s School and Barlow Ganj area.