As India finds itself in the grip of the second wave of coronavirus infections, several states have announced restrictions to control the rapid rise in COVID-19 cases. These restrictions include partial lockdown, weekend lockdown, night curfews, check on the public movement barring essential services. As closing down the whole state would give a big blow to people and the economy, night curfew is the most common measure used by the multiple states to stop the surge in COVID-19 cases. On Tuesday, Delhi joined the list of regions in the country to impose a night curfew.
Here is the list of states that have imposed restrictions amid the second wave.
Maharashtra
Maharashtra, the worst-affected state in the country, reported over 55,000 COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. Considering the grim rise in the number of cases in the last 30 days, the state had announced a strict night curfew. It has also imposed a complete weekend lockdown between 8 pm on Friday to 7 am on Monday. Only essential services including medical have been permitted in this period. Prohibitory orders under section 144 have also been issued during the day time. Mumbai and Pune remain the worst affected cities in the country. Earlier, Nagpur had become the first city in the country to witness a complete lockdown from March 15 to March 21 this year.
Punjab
Punjab has also announced several strict restrictions to curb the spread of the virus. The state government has imposed a strict night curfew and a ban on all social gathering except wedding and cremations in 11 worst-hit districts. The 11 districts are Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala, Mohali, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, SBS Nagar, Fatehgarh Sahib, Ropar and Moga. The state recorded 2,905 new Covid cases on Tuesday.
Madhya Pradesh
The state government has imposed a Sunday lockdown in 12 districts including Bhopal, Jabalpur, Indore, Khargone, Betul, Chhindwara, Ratlam, Vidisha, Ujjain, Gwalior, Narsinghpur and Sausar. Earlier, the government had announced a night curfew from March 17 in the two largest cities Indore and Bhopal in the state. Madhya Pradesh has reported more than 3,000 COVID-19 cases in the last 3 days.
Rajasthan
Night Curfew has been imposed in the state between 8 pm and 6 am. Among other restrictions, Dinning at restaurants and hotels have been banned with only home delivery of food being allowed. The state saw 2,236 fresh new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday.
Delhi
Delhi on Tuesday imposed a night curfew between 10 pm to 5 am till April 30 to check the steep rise in Covid infections. The Delhi government said that the night curfew has been enforced to check the movement of people, not essential services. On Tuesday, Delhi breached the 5k mark for the first time in the second wave and recorded 5,100 new cases.
Odisha
Odisha has imposed a night curfew in 10 districts between 10 pm to 5 am. These districts include Sundergarh, Bargarh, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Balangir, Naupada, Kalahandi, Malkagiri, Korapur and Nabarangpur. Odisha reported 588 cases on Wednesday.
Gujarat
The Gujarat government has imposed a night curfew in 20 cities between 8 pm to 6 am till April 30. These will include Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot, Vadodara, Jamnagar, Vgavnagarm Junagarh, Gandhinagar, Anand, Nadiad, Mehsana, Morbi, Patan, Godhra, Dahod, Bhuj, Gandhidham, Bharuch, Surendranagar and Amreli. Gujarat witnessed 3,280 fresh new Covid cases on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, India on Tuesday recorded more than 1.5 lakh new Covid cases, the highest rise in the daily new cases count since the pandemic hit the country last year. The country also 630 deaths in the last 24 hours.