The second wave of Covid-19 across the country is raising alarms in states like Maharashtra and Punjab which saw the highest number of cases in a single day 31,855 on Wednesday.
However, all across the country, nine out of ten districts with the highest caseloads in the country are currently from Maharashtra (Bengaluru Urban is the only non-Maharashtra district).
The State Government’s Covid-19 task force has now started strict checks on movement in Mumbai city, including shutting down popular spots like the Juhu beach for a few weeks, restrictions on post-7pm trips within the city, and early closure of commercial establishments in the nonessential sector. Beed also announced stricter restrictions, reported TOI.
While Gujarat, Pune, Delhi, and Haryana have banned public celebrations of Holi, Mumbai has placed restrictions on the festival. The Uttar Pradesh government has also issued a set of guidelines asking senior citizens and vulnerable groups to stay away from celebrations and said no processions or gatherings will be allowed without prior administrative permission.
However, the daily count of coronavirus cases in India crossed has 50,000 for the first time since November 6. Mumbai and Pune have both set new records for daily cases. Punjab is the second-highest state with covid cases, reported 2,613 new infections.
There is a total of 3.95 lakh active cases in the country and 251 deaths reported on Thursday active cases rise by more than 26,000 in the last 24 hours which is the highest record since the outbreak of the virus.
A new double mutant variant of coronavirus has been identified in India, according to the Ministry of Health. A total of 206 cases of the double mutant variant (E484Q + L452R) have been detected in Maharashtra, the data show. The Centre said there is no direct link of the new variant detected with the ongoing surge in the state.
