Curfews reimposed, travel curbs put in place as India records biggest jump in COVID cases since November today News

 In alarming news, several states have issued new travel advisories, imposed night curfews and started screening people coming from high-risk places, as a surge in new COVID-19 cases in some states including Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Kerala have been reported from past few days.

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According to the Union Health Ministry, the surge in active cases is due to Maharashtra, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh reporting a spike in the daily infections.

India, during the last 24 hours, reported 10,584 new cases of COVID-19 taking the total caseload to 1,10,16,434, while the death toll rose to 1,56,463.

The active caseload in the country, however, witnessed a drop after rising for 5 consecutive days and reaching above the 1.50-lakh mark on Monday. As per today's data, the active cases in the country stood at 1,47,306. 

In Karnataka, Health Minister K Sudhakar cautioned people against negligence towards observing COVID protocols, and of stricter steps if the number of cases increases. He said marshals would be deployed to monitor weddings as they were taking place without any norms or guidelines being followed.

He also clarified that the state government had not imposed any trictions on interstate travel, but has mandated RT-PCR certificates not older than 72 hours for those arriving in the state from neighbouring Kerala and Maharashtra.

People in the neighbouring district of Kasargod in Kerala bound for Mangaluru and other parts of Dakshina Kannada for various purposes including medical needs and studies had a tough time. Long queues of vehicles could be seen at the border areas since morning.

In the national capital, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal directed authorities to take all necessary steps to prevent any rise in COVID-19 cases in view of the surge in some states. Public buses and metro trains will run at their current limited capacities for at least two more weeks with the Delhi Disaster Management Authority deciding to maintain the status quo on the number of passengers.

Amid a spike in coronavirus infection in parts of Maharashtra, Mumbai has witnessed a 36.38 per cent rise in the active COVID-19 cases since February 8, as per the city civic body. Careless attitude of citizens, allowing the general public to travel in local trains and opening of various other commercial activities were among the reasons behind the current surge in COVID-19 cases.  

In Madhya Pradesh, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan issued several directives while reviewing the coronavirus situation in the state at a meeting in Bhopal. One of the directives asked district collectors to ensure temperature-based screening of people coming from Maharashtra. Thermal screening involves checking the body temperature of a person for symptoms of viral infections.