COVID-19 Outbreak: Lockdown Again in India! Here All You need to Know About Which Places are Locking Down Again?

In the wake of an increasing number of coronavirus cases, several state governments have so far imposed lockdown again in selected areas for varying intervals check the Covid-19 rise and to limit the spread of coronavirus infection, while Bihar on Tuesday prolonged the curbs across the state from July 16 to July 31.

 A week-long total shutdown in Bangalore, a prominent city, came into effect from 8 pm on Tuesday. The city will observe strict restrictions for a week to control the spread of Covid-19. In Karnataka, Dakshina and Dharwad Kannada districts will also be under lockdown for seven days and nine days respectively from Wednesday.

 There was a gigantic rush of consumers at grocery stores and liquor stores before the lockout. Nationwide, 41,581 people tested positive for coronavirus, including 19,000 cases in Bangalore.

In addition to Karnataka, states like Kerala, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Meghalaya have already announced strict lockdown region-wise for varying periods.

The state Home Ministry said West Bengal on Tuesday extended the lockdown till July 19.

Sikkim also imposed a complete lockdown in Pyong and Rongli sub-divisions from 6 am on Wednesday.

Sushil Kumar Modi, Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, announced that there will be fully lockdown for 15-days from July 16 in the state. Previously, nearly one-third of the 38 districts in the state had been completely shut down. Citing information from the June 29 Ministry of home affairs for Epidemic Control in containment zones, the state government said the decision was taken due to a “terrible rise in the coronavirus cases in the last three weeks”.

During this period, the state’s tally rose more than tripled. The health department said Bihar recorded a one-day peak on Tuesday, with a total of 1,433 Covid-19 cases, bringing the total to 18,854 in the state.

India’s Covid-19 recorded 28,498 new cases in a single day, and it broke the 900,000 marks on Tuesday after only three days it crossed 8 lakh mark.

With 28,498 new cases registered in a single day, India’s Covid-19 count ran past nine lakh on Tuesday, just three days after it crossed the eight-lakh mark. The Ministry of Health stated that 85.8 % of the total active cases were reported in 10 states of the country. The two most affected states are Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, accounting for 50% of the total number of active cases (154,135 active cases).

 Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal, Gujarat, Karnataka, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, and Assam are the other affected states, accounting for 36.3% of the total active cases (111,070 active cases).

In Maharashtra, the highest number of cases reached 2,67,665, and a strict 10-day lockdown was imposed in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad from Monday. To break the virus transmission chain, the city of Osmanabad has been locked out til July 19.

 Anil Vij, Home Minister, said that, due to the surge in Covid-19 cases in the Haryana districts which falling in the National Capital region in recent weeks, the state may also implement stricter restrictions in its worst-hit areas. On Tuesday, more than 22,000 cases in the state, only the three districts-Gurgaon, Sonipat and Faridabad which fall in the NCR, causing almost 15,000 cases and accounting for approximately 75% of the total deaths.

Assam has extended the two-week lockdown imposed in the Kamrup Metropolitan District that comes under Guwahati, on June 28 from Sunday at 6 pm for a week until July 19.

A senior state official announced that after the Kashipur, due to the surge in Covid-19 cases, Rudrapur and Bajpur in Udham Singh Nagar(Uttarakhand) exacted a three-day lockdown. The lockdown is valid from midnight on Monday.

Authorities on Monday reimposed strict restrictions in most parts of Kashmir after a sharp rise in Covid-19 cases in the valley over the past week.

The Uttar Pradesh government has determined to enforce strict lockdown across the state over the weekend to check the spread of coronavirus and join Tamil Nadu and Karnataka who have been enforced Sunday lockdown. 

On Tuesday, the UP government issued detailed instructions for the weekend lockdown. According to the report, during this period, all cities, villages, businesses, markets, galla mandis, and commercial establishments in Uttar Pradesh will remain closed.

Tamil Nadu earlier implemented embargo in Madurai, Chennai, and the surrounding areas at different times. The number of corona cases in Tamil Nadu ranks second in the country.

Due to the surge in Covid-19 cases in the region, the Arunachal Pradesh government extended the embargo in the capital region for another week on July 20 till 5 pm.

The government of Meghalaya had exacted an embargo on Shillong, on Monday from 6 am to 6 am on Wednesday. Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong announced on Tuesday that since it has been determined that contact tracking in the cluster has been completed, the lockdown will not be prolonged.

Since the evening of July 9, West Bengal has imposed a strict lockdown on containment areas and nearby buffer zones. These areas are located in and around Kolkata, besides Jalpaiguri, Raiganj, Siliguri, Malda, and Cooch Behar.