NEW DELHI: India’s Covid-19 tally stood at 1,12,44,786 with 15,388 fresh cases reported as of Tuesday morning, said the Union ministry of health. The death toll due to the viral disease has gone up to 1,57,930 with 77 more fatalities, as per 8 am data updated by the ministry.
After registering an increase for six consecutive days, the number of active Covid-19 cases has gone down to 1,87,462, accounting for only 1.67 per cent of the country’s total caseload. The case fatality rate has dropped to 1.40 per cent.
However, a surge in some states has led the administration to impose partial lockdowns in certain districts.
Maharashtra: Nashik administration impose restrictions
The Nashik district administration imposed several restrictions starting Tuesday after the number of Covid-19 cases rose by 675 to touch 1,26,570 on Monday.
The day also saw six people dying from the infection and 389 recovering. The district’s overall toll is 2,140 and the number of people discharged stands at 1,20,204, he added.
With 2,182 samples being examined on Monday, the overall number of tests in Nashik went up to 5,61,783.
The district administration imposed restrictions in view of the rising number of cases after chief minister Uddhav Thackeray reviewed the situation.
“It is not a lockdown. Only some restrictions have been put in place to prevent a surge in case numbers,” said collector Suraj Mandhare said later in the evening.
As per Mandhare’s order, all shops and establishments, except those engaged in essential services, will be closed from 7pm to 7am, while permit rooms will operate at 50 per cent capacity and down shutters at 9 pm.
Places of worship will remain open from 7 am to 7 pm and remain closed during weekends.
Schools, colleges and coaching classes in Nashik, Malegaon, Niphad and Nandgaon will remain closed from March 10 till further orders, though classes for standards X and XII will continue due to upcoming board exams.
Educational institutions in Nashik city were ordered shut till March 15 a few days ago.
Earlier scheduled examinations such as UPSC and MPSC will be held, it added.
Marriage functions that had got permission earlier will be allowed to take place till March 15 after which no new nod would be given, an official said.
Maharashtra: Limited lockdown in 16 Thane hotspots
The Thane municipal corporation late on Monday announced a “limited lockdown” or micro containment zones in 16 local hotspots till March 31.
Some of the prominent areas, with their limits defined, under lockdown are Aainagar Kalwa, Chendani Koliwada, Srinagar, Runwal Garden City Balkum, Hiranandani Estate, Shivai Nagar and Runwal Nagar Kolbad.
All commercial units would be shut except for essential services like chemists, dairies, groceries and other notified units that will be operative during the period, as per district authorities.
As of Monday morning, the caseload of the Thane district was 2,69,845, including 6,302 deaths.
Punjab: Fourteen containment zones sealed
Data analysis shows that the daily growth rate of cases in Punjab went up from 1 per cent on February 20 to 2.5 per cent on March 5.
The state reported as many as 1,074 fresh cases on March 4, the highest single-day count since October. In contrast, the all-India rate has dipped from 0.7 per cent to 0.9 per cent.
The rise in cases has led to more micro-containment zones having 5 to 14 cases. The state now has a total of 14 containment zones, having a population of 5,109 under observation.
Ludhiana, Ferozepur and Amritsar have three such zones each while there are two containment zones each in Patiala and Jalandhar and one in Gurdaspur.
As a preventive measure, all these zones have been sealed and restrictions imposed on the movement of people.
Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh last week held the people responsible for the resurgence of cases as they were flouting health advisories.
Urging people to take precautions, he said that the government was closely monitoring the situation.