12 Hour Night Curfew in Pune
NEW DELHI, Apr 2: Pune will be under 12 hour curfew from 6 P.M. to 6 A.M. every day for one week from Friday.
The stringent step was taken by the Pune authorities facing an alarming spike in Covid cases. A review of the order and coronavirus situation in the district will again be taken up next Friday to decide the future course of action, official sources said.
All religious places, hotels and bars, shopping malls, and movie theatres will all remain closed for the next seven days, Pune Divisional Commissioner Saurabh Rao said Friday afternoon.
Only home deliveries of food, medicines and other essential services will be allowed in this period.
Pune is among the worst-affected areas in India as a result of a renewed wave of infections.
On Thursday 8,011 new cases were reported. This was the second consecutive 24-hour period to cross that mark, after 8,605 – Pune’s biggest single-day spike – were detected on Wednesday.
As cases increase Pune Mayor Murlidhar Mohol, on Thursday, directed private hospitals to make 80 per cent of beds available for COVID-19 patients. He, however, played down talk of a lockdown to slow the spread of the virus, saying there is “presently no serious need.”
“Instead testing, tracing and vaccination drives have to be increased,” he told the media with a warning of stricter measures if the spike could not be controlled soon.
Apart from Pune, the country’s commercial capital Mumbai has also seen a worrying spike in Covid cases. The city reported 8,646 new cases on Thursday, the highest ever in a 24-hour period.
Mumbai authorities have also stepped up measures to control the spread of the virus, including conducting random Corona tests at public places like in malls and bus stations, where they say many are flouting rules by not wearing face masks or maintaining social distance.
And, as in Pune, the city is also prepping for a shortage of hospital beds and equipment.
With Maharashtra remaining the biggest contributor of daily spike of cases, India too recorded 81,466 new Covid-19 cases till Friday morning, the biggest since December 6.
(Manas Dasgupta)
