Covid-19 instances up, ‘partial lockdown’, curbs in 5 Vidarbha districts

WITH the Covid-19 positivity graph capturing up sharply in Maharashtra’s Amravati division, the authorities have reimposed strict restrictions in all its 5 districts — Amravati, Akola, Yavatmal, Buldana and Washim — with a “partial lockdown” in two of them.
The 5 districts, of the 11 within the Vidarbha area, noticed 1,188 new instances on Thursday, with Amravati main the chart with 597, adopted by Yavatmal (237), Akola (179), Buldana (134) and Washim (41). Yavatmal’s tally greater than doubled, to 237 new instances, from 109 on Wednesday.
Amravati district’s lively caseload stood at 3,468 on Wednesday, up from 423 a month in the past. Officials mentioned every day deaths attributable to Covid-19 within the district had been up from one-two deaths a month in the past to three-four a day now.
Amravati Divisional Commissioner Piyush Singh advised The Indian Express, “Restrictions have been imposed in all the five districts and a partial lockdown will be imposed in Akola and Amravati, the two most affected districts, from 5 pm on Saturday to 7 am on Sunday.”
Apart from these restrictions, Akola, Akot and Murtizapur in Akola district, Amravati and Achalpur in Amravati district and Yavatmal, Pusad and Pandharkawada in Yavatmal district have been declared containment zones.
Singh mentioned the Amravati division was more likely to transfer previous its September peak of over 7,600 instances this month. “We have already seen more than 5,000 cases this month.”

In the Nagpur division within the Vidarbha area, instances proceed to rise in Nagpur and Wardha districts.
The silver lining for Vidarbha is that fatality stays low. On Thursday, the 11 districts of the area noticed 15 deaths attributed to Covid-19, with the utmost one-day toll in February being 18 on Wednesday.
As the brand new restrictions come into power within the Amravati division, no gatherings of greater than 50 might be allowed at socio-religious or wedding ceremony features. Schools and different instructional establishments will stay closed until additional discover, no more than 5 folks might be allowed at public locations, retailers will shut earlier than 8 pm, and using masks and sanitisers might be strictly enforced.
The 5 districts can even stress on institutional quarantine of Covid sufferers, with solely these with correct isolation services at residence allowed to quarantine themselves at their residences. Singh mentioned they may take a name Friday on whether or not to impose a complete ban on weddings in Amravati or not.
Singh and Yavatmal Collector M D Singh clarified that these had been solely restrictions and never a lockdown, as had been reported at some locations.