A one-week lockdown will come into effect in Maharashtra's Amravati district from February 22 to curb the pace of COVID-19 transmission. Only essential services will be allowed for the seven-day period.
The decision to impose the lockdown - a first such measure stretching for a week after the unlock campaign began - was announced by state Cabinet Minister Yashomati Thakur on February 21.
The lockdown will begin from 8 pm on February 22, and continue till 8 pm on February 28. The restrictions will come into effect across Amravati district excluding Achalpur city, Thakur said.
A day earlier, Amravati recorded 894 new coronavirus cases, making the district the second highest contributor of single-day COVID-19 count in Maharashtra. Only Mumbai was ahead with 897 fresh infections, as per the data shared by the state health department.
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District Collector Shelesh Naval had already imposed a slew of restrictions in Amravati over the weekend. A 36-hour partial lockdown was announced from February 20 evening to the early hours of February 22, with market places and other establishments asked to remain closed.
The Maharashtra government is also reportedly mulling over imposing night curfew in other districts, as COVID-19 cases continue to rise.
Samples from Amravati, Pune, Satara and Yavatmal districts were examined earlier this week, to ascertain whether a mutated virus strain is responsible for the recent spurt in infections.
The Maharashtra government, however, announced on February 19 that no strains of coronavirus found in the UK, South Africa and Brazil were detected in the state.
As per the last update issued by the health department on February 20, Maharashtra recorded a total of 6,112 new cases. This was the second consecutive day when the coronavirus per-day count crossed 6,000. The state had last recorded such a single-day spike in October-end.
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