Authorities in Chhattisgarh on Wednesday imposed a complete 10-day lockdown in capital Raipur from April 9 to April 19 due to a surge in coronavirus cases, India Today reported.
“Keeping in mind the Covid-19 situation, Raipur district is being declared a containment zone from 6 pm on 9th April till 6 am on 19th April,” Collector S Bharathi Dasan said, according to ANI. “All the borders of the district will remain sealed during this period.”
The state has reported a record rise in new infections and the Centre has also flagged it for failing to contain the pandemic. Earlier Chhattisgarh Health Minister TS Singh Deo had said that with the spiralling cases, a partial lockdown in the affected districts cannot be ruled out.
On Tuesday, Chhattisgarh recorded 9,921 new coronavirus cases. This is the highest single-day jump since the outbreak last year, taking the state’s tally to 3,68,269. The worst-hit Raipur and Durg districts account for 2,821 and 1,838 of the new cases.
India on Wednesday reported a record 1,15,736 new coronavirus infections, taking the total to more than 12.8 crore cases, data from the health ministry showed. The toll in the world’s third-worst-hit country after the United States and Brazil reached 1,66,177 after 630 new fatalities.
On Monday, India reported more than 1,00,000 cases for the first time since the pandemic began last year. Nearly 97,000 cases were registered on Tuesday. As cases continue to surge, authorities in several parts of India have begun to impose strict restrictions to rein in the pandemic.
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