Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray indicates a full lockdown in the state of Maharashtra. Citizens are not taking precautions, even though, the country has reached a six-month high for daily cases.
India’s richest state hit hard by the virus
On Friday, Maharashtra announced 47,828 new infections, the highest number since March 2020. In India as a whole, 12.3 million cases have been reported with 81,466 new infections reported on Friday. According to health ministry numbers, the country\’s death toll has risen to 163,396 with 469 new deaths recorded on Friday. Statistics show that India has the third-largest death toll due to Coronavirus. Preceded by the United States and Brazil.
Uddhav Thackeray gave a warning on National Television, stating that if the situation pertains the state will enforce a complete lockdown.
Karnataka, a state in southern India prohibited the opening of gyms and religious functions. Whereas, minimal gathering at restaurants is permitted.
Early last year, India introduced one of the world\’s toughest curfews to combat the coronavirus. However, it eased to save the economy, and cases gradually declined later in the year. The new surge poses a challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi\’s government, which struggled to implement last year\’s lockdown.
Vaccination for all
Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of New Delhi, has urged the federal government to extend vaccines to people of all ages. Moreover, he stated that the government should allow states to vaccinate everybody on a war-like basis.
Lastly, in recent weeks, the government has stepped up its vaccination programme, but the vaccinations have taken a long time to reach India\’s 1.3 billion population. Most Indians are yet to receive the vaccine, even though India is now producing its own. This is due to the fact that Modi has planned on selling it to other countries, which the Indian community is not happy about.
