Over 6,000 new Covid cases in Vidarbha region, Nagpur district worst hit

On Wednesday, the number of new cases in Nagpur rose to 3,370, an increase of little under 800 cases in a day. The region’s death toll also rose from 39 on Tuesday to 44 on Wednesday, with Nagpur again contributing the maximum of 16 deaths.

Earlier, Amravati district was the biggest hotspot in Amravati Division, but it has now been replaced by Buldana, which reported 690 new cases and four deaths on Wednesday, up from 567 new cases and two deaths on Tuesday. The other districts in the Vidarbha region also saw a surge with Akola recording 470 cases, Yavatmal 435, Washim 247, Wardha 252, Bhandara 149, Chandrapur 164, Gondia 39 and Gadchiroli witnessing 34 new cases.

Amravati, Wardha, Akola and Yavatmal reported six, five, six and four deaths respectively.

Chandrapur reported two and Washim one death while Gondia and Gadchiroli had no Covid deaths on Wednesday. The official data shows that unlike the last wave, deaths have been occurring largely among those above 75.

With the active caseload in the region rising to 41,882, of which 21,118 cases are in Nagpur district alone, the administration is gearing up to boost treatment facilities.

Nagpur Divisional Commissioner Sanjeev Kumar held a meeting of top officials on Wednesday and issued orders to increase manpower, beds and oxygen supply in government hospitals, saying that Rs 121 crore have been made available for the same.

The lockdown in Nagpur was made further stringent on Tuesday, with even essential service centres and delivery being allowed to operate only till 1 pm.

Municipal Commissioner Radhakrishnan B told The Indian Express, “Although the Covid case number is increasing, there should be no panic. We have almost tripled the number of tests, which is leading to more cases coming to the fore. The concern is not about growing numbers. It’s about infectivity and hence we have imposed restrictions, which are expected to break the chain and reduce the numbers in the days to come.”

Nagpur district conducted 15,000 tests on Wednesday, up by about 2,000 from Tuesday. The number of tests also went up substantially in other districts, with the region recording 42,686 tests on Wednesday, up from 36,700 on Tuesday.