Lockdown imposed on Raipur from Apr 9 to April 19; night curfew in Punjab
The deadly coronavirus shows no sign of slowing down as the country recorded a new single-day rise in the number of fresh cases on Wednesday and several States entered into the alarming territory from where they could see a sharp upsurge in new infections. India saw a record 126,198 new cases and 684 fatalities in 24 hours till late on Wednesday, almost 10,000 more than the previous day’s count.
Meanwhile, the cumulative number of vaccine doses administered in the country have crossed 8.83 crore.
Maharashtra logged yet another new record, reporting 59,900 cases and 322 death. The State saw 30,296 recoveries during the last 24 hours. Maharashtra was followed by Chattisgarh, recording 10,310 new cases and 53 deaths.
Uttar Pradesh, which did very well in tackling the first wave of corona, reported 6,023 new Covid cases, 1,484 discharges and 40 deaths on Wednesday. Karnataka reported 6000-plus cases followed by Delhi which recorded nearly 5,500 new cases.
Gujarat reported 3,575 new cases, 2,217 recoveries and 22 deaths in the last 24 hours, Madhya Pradesh reports 4,043 new cases, 2,126 recoveries, and 13 deaths in the last 24 hours.
Jharkhand recorded 1,302 new cases and 7 deaths in the last 24 hours.
Meanwhile, in view of the recent surge in Covid-19 cases, the Chhattisgarh Government on Wednesday announced a lockdown in Raipur district with effect from April 9 to April 19, an official said.
Raipur Collector S Bharathi Dasan has issued the order declaring the entire area of the district, including the State capital, as a containment zone and restricted several activities from 6 pm on April 9 till 6 am on April 19.
Because of the steady rise in Covid-19 cases, it has become necessary to impose stricter restrictions on the movement of people and other activities to contain the spread of infection, the collector said in a press conference.
Accordingly, during the lockdown period, the border of the district will be completely sealed and all shops, including those selling liquor, and commercial establishments will remain closed except medical stores.
Offices of Central government, state government, semi-government, as well as private offices and banks will remain closed while those related to telecom, railway and airports will be allowed to function, the order said.
All religious, cultural and tourism spots will remain shut and all kinds of public meetings, social, religious and political programmes will be banned during this period, it said.
In a related development, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday announced the extension of night curfew to the entire state and a ban on political gatherings till April 30, while slamming his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal and SAD’s Sukhbir Badal for their “irresponsible conduct” in attending rallies without following COVID-19 protocol.
Making it clear that those violating the ban on political gatherings, including leaders, will be booked under the Disaster Management Act and the Epidemic Diseases Act, Singh said he has been forced to order the ban on political gatherings as his pleas to parties to refrain from organising such events had been ignored.
Singh said he was surprised at the “behaviour of certain political leaders, including Kejriwal and Badal, who had been attending political rallies without following safety protocols”.
The chief minister said night curfew from 9 pm to 5 am, which was till now imposed in 12 districts, will be extended to all 22 districts of the state.
