Mumbai: Even as the Maharashtra state government has enforced ‘lockdown style’ restrictions on public movement, districts in some parts of Maharashtra will go under a stricter lockdown from May 5.

Maharashtra, one of the worst-hit state is already under strict curbs, which according to the order, will last till May 15. Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Tuesday informed that the graph of COVID-19 is flattening its curve gradually in 15 districts of the state, including Mumbai and Thane. However, he also said that other districts are still witnessing an upward trend in the spread of the infection. He said the government is targeting to reduce the number of COVID-19 infections in the districts with high caseload.

He said COVID-19 cases are declining daily in 15 districts – Aurangabad, Amravati, Mumbai, Thane, Nashik, Latur, Dhule, Nanded, Bhandara, Nandurbar, Osmabanad, Nagpur, Raigad, Chandrapur and Gondia. The district administrations in areas where cases are rising have been requested to increase bed capacity in hospitals, the minister said here on Monday.

On the other hand, complete shutdown will be enforced in Sangli, Satara and Beed districts of Maharashtra including some part of rural Pune amid the rise in COVID-19 cases.

SANGLI

Maharashtra's Sangli district Guardian Minister Jayant Patil on Tuesday declared a complete lockdown in the district for 8 days amid the spike in COVID-19 cases. There was no option but to enforce a complete lockdown to save lives, he said. The lockdown will come into effect from midnight of May 5. This come after Sangli reported 1,568 new COVID cases and 40 deaths on Sunday.

SATARA

In Satara, fresh restrictions were imposed from Tuesday, as there was rise in the spread of infection. Except for milk, and home delivery of food and medical services, everything will remain shut in Satara. Acting District Collector Ramchandra Shinde issued the order on Monday. “The decision has been taken to restrict the further spread of COVID-19. Essentials can be delivered only for four hours- 7am to 11am,” the order read. On Monday a total of 2,502 new cases were reported while 36 patients lost their lives around the district. The hospitals in Satara are also facing acute shortage of beds, oxygen and Remdesivir vials. According to health department, over 20,000 patients are undergoing treatment around the district.

BEED

Beed region of Marathwada will also witness complete shutdown due to spread in the infection. The district will undergo strict lockdown for next three days. District Collector Rajendra Jagtap issued the order on Monday stating that only medical shops and hospitals will be allowed to function while every other establishment will remain shut for three days.

BARAMATI

The Pune district administration amid rising COVID 19 cases on Monday declared a complete lockdown in Baramati taluka including the city for 7 days from midnight of May 4 till. The lockdown will remain in place till May 11. During the lockdown, the milk sale is allowed between 7 am and 9 am while other establishments including grocery, vegetable and fruit vendors, weekly markets except medical shops will remain shut. Also, there is a ban on all social and cultural events including weddings.

Pune Rural had registered 1,712 deaths due to the novel virus since the beginning of the pandemic till the end of March. But 472 deaths were recorded in April, taking the tally to 2,184 till April 30, which increased to 2,267 by May 3.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra's COVID-19 deaths and new cases reported a surge while the state death toll shot past the 71,000 mark on Tuesday, according to state health department. Against 567 fatalities on Monday, the state registered 891 deaths of Tuesday, taking the total deaths to 71,742 now. The number of new infections also jumped pass 50,000 mark again, at 51,880, taking the state total to above the 48 lakh mark, to 48,22,902.

For the third day, the death rate in the state remained stable at 1.49 per cent, while the number of active cases decreased to 6,41,910. As many as 65,934 fully recovered patients returned home - higher than the number of fresh cases on Tuesday - taking the total to 41,07,092 now, and the recovery rate also improved from 84.07 per cent on Monday to 85.16 per cent now.