Sun, Jan 28, 2024
Sun, Jan 28, 2024
ITDC INDIA EPRESS/ITDC NEWS R With COVID-19 cases recording an alarming jump of over 14 times in a week's time, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, on Tuesday, ordered fresh restrictions across the state.
Orders have been issued for banning of public gatherings, rallies, processions, social, culture, religious and sports events in all districts. Night clampdown from 10.00pm to 6.00am has been imposed for districts with case positivity rate of over 4 per cent. Currently, only capital Raipur and Raigarh districts are in this category.
The state had reported 49 positive cases out of 20,988 tested samples on December 27, with a positivity rate of 0.23 per cent. On December 3, the positive cases went up to 698 (of 27,646 samples) with a positivity rate of 2.52 per cent. This is a jump of over 14 times.
Health Minister T.S. Singh Deo tested positive for the second time in less than a year on January 2. He is mostly asymptomatic and is recuperating in home isolation. The minister had tested positive in March 2021 too, when the second wave of COVID-19 was starting.
Baghel had reviewed COVID-19 situation on Monday and after cases showed further spike.
The CM asked all district collectors and superintendents of police to take all steps to implement the COVID-19 protocols strictly. “Our objective is to limit the infection and the risks involved, not to slow down economic activities.”
Among the key points of the restriction orders are that all schools, anganwadi centres, libraries, swimming pools and public places will be closed in districts with over 4 per cent positivity rate. Malls, cinema halls, marriage halls, hotels, restaurants and auditoriums will be shut in these districts, while in others they will run with one-third capacity, the order said.
COVID-19 protocols, including wearing of masks, will be strictly implemented in public places, market areas and shops across the state. RT-PCR tests have been made mandatory again in all airports and random testing has been ordered for railway stations and border districts.
District administrations have been asked to hold meetings with private doctors, private hospitals, NGOs and media representatives for effective COVID-19 prevention. They have also been asked to report daily on the status of hospital beds, medicine stocks and oxygen availability. Call centres for home isolation patients will now function 24 hours a day.
'Delta variant 50% of cases in Indore'
Cases surged more than seven times within a week in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh too, with commercial centre Indore once again emerging as the hotspot. The state reported 308 new cases as on Tuesday morning of 58,044 samples, compared to 42 cases on December 28 of 55,270 samples.
Of these, 137 cases were reported from Indore with the positivity rate there increasing to 1.85 per cent. Home minister and government spokesman Narottam Mishra's statement that 50 per cent of the new cases in Indore were of the dangerous Delta variant that struck last year, has caused fresh concerns. Capital Bhopal reported 69 new cases.
However, no fresh restrictions have been ordered in the state. Night curfew from 11.00pm to 5.00am is in place in all districts from December 23.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had said on Monday that the third wave of COVID-19 was imperative, but we have to face it with courage and prudence. “We are not to fear it, but to fight it. We have to keep patience and follow COVID-19 protocols. We are making efforts to ensure that economic activities are not restrained, children's studies are not impacted and markets should remain open but we defeat the pandemic.”
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