More on Covid-19

NEW DELHI: More areas of India came under lockdown on Monday as the battle against Covid-19 entered a decisive phase with governments of Maharashtra and Punjab imposing curfew across their states. Regimes like the Pinarayi Vijayan government in India’s second worst-hit state Kerala —which had dithered on the Centre’s directive to lock down 10 affected districts just 24 hours ago — also decided to follow other states on Monday by ordering complete shutdown of the state till March 31. Other states where total lockdown was imposed on Monday were Tamil Nadu, Karnataka , Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal, Assam , Tripura, Meghalaya and Manipur.On Sunday, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand , J&K, Chandigarh, Rajasthan, Arunachal, Nagaland and Mizoram had ordered total lockdown. According to information provided by the Centre, 30 governments have imposed complete lockdown in the entire state/Union territory, covering 548 districts. Another three governments have brought certain areas under lockdown, covering total 58 districts.As a result, 606 of India’s 728 districts are under lockdown. Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray imposed a curfew in the entire state with immediate effect on Monday after imposition of Section 144 of CrPC in urban areas a day earlier proved to be ineffective with private vehicles back on the street in large numbers. “We are forced to impose a curfew. Also, the use of private vehicles, taxis and autorickshaws will be restricted only to the extent of procuring essential commodities, health services and other emergency reasons,” he said.Only one person besides the driver will be allowed in private vehicles. Justifying the strict measures while referring to the ‘janata curfew’ on Sunday for which PM Modi had given a call, Thackeray said, “We are putting these restrictions only for some time and for the benefit of the state.By beating thalis we have not killed the virus, this is aturning point in the fight against this virus.” The CM said that most religious places have shut their doors to visitors “and the ones which haven’t will also be shut from today”. Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh also announced a statewide “full curfew with no relaxations”. In Rajasthan, there will be a complete ban on private vehicles in cities and on highways from Tuesday as people are still defying the lockdown.Toll plazas will be shut. In Telangana, the state ordered supermarkets and grocery ships remain open only between 6am and 7pm. No person will be allowed on streets after 7pm, except for those with medical emergencies.Assam and Manipur joined the other NE states of Arunachal, Mizoram and Nagaland by announcing a lockdown. Assam, the largest state in the northeast which has not reported a single case, will impose the lockdown from 6pm on Tuesday till March 31.