Nagpur: Calling the spike in cases the second wave of Covid-19, guardian minister Nitin Raut on Monday shut down schools, colleges, coaching classes, training institutes and weekly vegetable markets from February 23 to March 7 in the district. The minister, however, said there will be no full lockdown. He also said no new mutation of novel coronavirus was found in the district.
Raut and also announced ban on weddings in lawns, halls, hotels and resorts from February 25 to March 7. “We are giving two day time so organizers can convey to those have made bookings. All religious, social, cultural and political programmes will also remain suspended till March 7,” he said after reviewing the Covid-19 situation with divisional commissioner Sanjeev Kumar, municipal commissioner Radhakrishnan B, collector Ravindra Thakre, CEO of ZP Yogesh Kumbhejkar and CP Amitesh Kumar.
Announcing implementation of “I am Responsible” campaign announced by CM Uddhav Thackeray in the district, Raut said, “Government permitted all activities to boost economy. But most people are taking it lightly and roaming, crowding, and violating Covid guidelines. Administration and medical institutions are continuously rendering their services of testing, treatment etc. We had no options but to take stringent measures for controlling the rise in cases,” he said.
Raut first announced closure of only major markets on weekends. Later, civic chief and collector consulted police department and issued orders for city and rural, respectively, announcing closure of all cinema/drama theatres, malls, shops excluding emergency and essential commodities on Saturdays and Sundays. The two authorities in the orders made it clear all permissions given for marriage ceremonies and other programmes till March 7 stood cancelled.
Radhakrishnan said fish, chicken and mutton markets and shops will also remain closed on weekends in the city.
Asked why full lockdown was not being imposed, Radhakrishnan said, “Economic activities will again receive setback. As of now, there is no restrictions on movement of people which will happen under full lockdown. If cases continue to rise and availability of hospital beds becomes a problem, we may have to think of full lockdown.”
Private and government offices can continue to function as of now. “We will wait for a week and see number of cases and then decide. City bus and Metro will also continue to ply,” he said.
The meeting reportedly did not consider imposing night curfew but later the officials discussed it but took no decision. Radhakrishnan also said, "Hostels and residential schools should not ask students to vacate as further decision on schools and colleges will be taken considering the situation on March 7."
Raut directed the officials to ensure government and private laboratories tested samples at their full capacity. “Directions were also given to bring all CCCs in use. Screening of people will be done going door-to-door in hotspots. Micro-containment zone system will be resumed in an effective manner. Season is changing so many are having fever and cough. I appeal to people to give detailed information and correct contact numbers while going for testing. Citizens should get tested immediately if they have any symptoms. Deaths have continued to be low and early detection followed by treatment can prevent fatalities,” he said.
Two ministers from the district-- Anil Deshmukh (home), Sunil Kedar (animal husbandry)— were not present in the meeting. Mayor Dayashankar Tiwari and other legislators from the district were not invited.
BJP MLA from East Nagpur Krishna Khopde in a press release demanded that marriages for which lawns and hotels were already booked and invitation cards distributed be permitted subject to compliance of Covid guidelines to prevent problems to the concerned families.
After six weeks of pandemic peak in August and September, the cases were on the decline in the district from October. Lowest number of 1,824 cases were registered in first week of February. Suddenly, they to 2,657 in second week and to 4,378 in third week. Cases have been above 500 per day for a week and over 600 for five consecutive day. The rise is high in city compared with rural areas. Still, entire district has been brought under resrictions.