Maharashtra: 12 ‘zero-death’ districts in state, 20 with casualties below 10

The “zero-death” districts are Ulhasnagar, Sindhudurg, Jalna, Hingoli, Osmanabad, Beed, Yavatmal, Washim, Bhandara, Gondia, Chandrapur and Nashik. However, none of these districts are free of positive cases of coronavirus. There are 125 cases in Nashik, 98 in Yavatmal, 61 in Hingoli, 53 in Ulhasnagar and 16 in Jalna. The districts that have managed to lower the number of positive cases include Sindhudurg with six cases, Osmanabad and Chandrapur at four each, Washim at two, and Beed, Bhandara and Gondia at one case each.

There are coronavirus cases in 35 out of 36 districts. The only district to not have reported any case is Gadchiroli in Vidarbha region.

The statistical analysis of cases and deaths across the state shows that there is no major shift in Covid-19 trend. Mumbai remains the most vulnerable with highest number of cases at 14,947 and 556 deaths. The cases are highly concentrated around Mumbai, Pune and Thane, thus showing consistency in the pattern. At present, Pune with 2,788 cases has reported 160 deaths, while Thane with 1,044 cases has reported 14 deaths. The surge in Malegaon at 616, resulting in 34 deaths, got state Health Minister Rajesh Tope to personally visit the district to address the problems arising due to lack of adequate medical facilities.

A senior officer in the revenue ministry, who is coordinating with district collectors on Covid-related work, said, “The initial decision of sealing the borders or restricting movement from one district to another or within talukas appears to have yielded good results. At least there are 12 out of 36 districts where not a single death has been reported. Apart from this, the number of deaths in another 20 districts is lower than ten.”

The revenue department, led by cabinet minister Balasaheb Thorat, has issued directives across 355 talukas to enforce stricter monitoring of migrants, complete with 14-day quarantine and testing. Within talukas, social distancing is being reinforced. According to Thorat, “The government has to strike a balance to bring people back to their villages safely and provide livelihood. At the same time, we also have to work hard to contain the spread of the infection and see to it that social distancing guidelines are followe