Jagtial imposes lockdown

Jagtial: The first instance of lockdown has come to light on Sunday in Jagtial district. According to Sarpanch Bhukya Govind Naik, the situation in Sirpur gram panchayat was causing concern as there has been a spike in the number of corona positive cases. The virus is spreading rapidly. In the last 24 hours, 27 new positive cases were registered, hence it has been decided to impose lockdown, Naik said. The panchayat requested people not to come out of home except in case of great emergency.

The lockdown will continue till April 15. All kinds of trading activities, including hotels, markets and transportation will be shut down. Only grocery stores are permitted to open twice a day for a few hours during morning and evening hours. The shops which have been permitted to open have been instructed to follow Covid-19 norms, ensure that customers maintain physical distance and ban entry of any person who does not wear a mask.

The panchayat also announced that those who violate the rules will be fined Rs 1,000. Naik further said monitoring has been increased to stop people from moving around unnecessarily. Providing details about the precautionary measures District Medical and Health Officer Sridhar said that a few areas with a large number of cases have been declared as containment zones and barricaded, sanitisation is being carried there on a regular basis and all essentials were being provided to them by health workers. Those who tested positive have been kept in home isolation. The administration has also made arrangements for isolation wards at JNTU campus following the District Collector's orders, Sridhar added.