Coronavirus LIVE Updates: Wear Masks & Say No to Lockdown, Says Uddhav as Nearly 7k Fresh Cases Raises Alarm; Info on 2nd Wave in a Fortnight, Informs CM

“The entire Vidarbha region is witnessing a spike in cases. Even in Nagpur, over 750 cases were reported on Friday. The government has already declared a partial lockdown in Amravati, Wardha and Yavatmal. If fresh cases jump, the government needs to take strict measures like a night curfew,” he said. “We will ask district administrations, including collectors and municipal commissioners, to take a final call on lockdowns depending on conditions in their areas. During curfew, all places like marriage halls, markets, cinema halls and others where crowds gather would be closed. The surge is due to a majority of people becoming careless and not following Covid-19 protocols like wearing masks and maintaining distancing,” Wadettiwar said.

“We are also considering regulating vegetable markets. Such places may be allowed to remain open from 10 am to 5 pm with restrictions,” he said.

The Karnataka government on Saturday mandated a negative RT-PCR certificate that is not older than 72 hours for those arriving in the state by flights, buses, trains and personal transport from Maharashtra, following the recent spike in COVID cases there. The report shall be verified at the time of boarding by airline staff, a circular issued by the Additional Chief Secretary Department of Health and Family Welfare Jawaid Akhtar said.

Maharashtra reported more than 6,000 new coronavirus cases for the second day in a row on Saturday, a health department official said. Out of 6,281 new cases, over 1,700 or about 27 percent were recorded in Mumbai and Amravati municipal corporation areas, he said.