While the nationwide lockdown amidst the coronavirus crisis may have chipped away at the country’s economy, it has certainly helped in containing the spread of the coronavirus. Though some pockets in the country have witnessed a rise in the number of COVID-19 cases, the lockdown in some areas has proved beneficial in the country’s fight against the virus. As a consequence of the lockdown, 25 districts of 15 states have reported no new cases in the last 14 days.
A senior official of the Union Health Ministry briefed the media on Monday that the imposition of strict restrictions preventing the movement of people during the last 20 days has helped in blunting the spread of the contagion, known for its ominous contagiousness.
The 25 districts in 15 states that have reported no new cases despite reporting COVID-19 cases initially are:-
- Gondia (Maharashtra)
- Raj Nand Gaon (Chattisgarh)
- Durg (Chattisgarh)
- Bilaspur (Chattisgarh)
- Davangiri (Karnataka)
- Kodagu (Karnataka)
- Tumkuru (Karnataka)
- Udupi (Karnataka)
- South Goa (Goa)
- Wayanad (Kerala)
- Kottayam (Kerala)
- West Imphal (Manipur)
- Rajouri (J&K)
- Aizwal West (Mizoram)
- Mahe (Puducherry)
- SBS Nagar (Punjab)
- Patna (Bihar)
- Nalanda (Bihar)
- Munger (Bihar)
- Pratapgarh (Rajasthan)
- Panipat (Haryana)
- Rohtak (Haryana)
- Sirsa (Haryana)
- Pauri Garhwal (Uttrakhand)
- Bhadradari Kothagudem (Telangana)
Lauding the front line warriors such as doctors, policemen, healthcare professionals and workers, Luv Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health, emphasised that due to their efforts, the contagion has been managed to be under control and as a result of their efforts, 25 districts in 15 states, which had earlier reported cases of coronavirus have not reported any new case during last 20 days of the lockdown.
In addition, while briefing the media, Aggarwal claimed that help is being sought from the National Cadet Corps in combating the virus along with carrying out relief work for those in distress due to lockdown. So far more than 50,000 people have volunteered. So far, more than 30 crore people have been given financial assistance of Rs 28256 crore, he said.
He said that the states are continuously working to implement lockdown measures. Retired personnel, officers of NSS (National Service Scheme), NCC cadets and other depots are also assisting the police in implementing the lockdown measures.
Speaking about the movement of essential goods around the country, Punya Salila Srivastava, Joint Secretary, Home Ministry, said that there is no restriction on the inter-state or intra-state movement of all trucks and goods carriers. She added that goods of any nature have been permitted to be transported across the country.
The number of coronavirus cases have steadily risen in India with the current tally of 8048 active coronavirus cases across the nation. About 324 deaths nationwide due to COVID-19 have been reported so far. Maharashtra tops the list of states with the highest number of infection, an overwhelming number of which have been reported from the financial capital of the country, Mumbai.