The first phase of lockdown has come to an end today as the Prime Minister announced the extension of the lockdown until the 3rd of May. The lockdown that had hit only 84 districts a couple of weeks ago, has now affected over 284 districts around the country.
Major Hotspots in the Country
According to the website covid19india.org, India has been severely hit in at least 14 states. The hotspots are the regions where the spread of the disease is rampant and the containment is becoming difficult. The hotspots generally record more cases and pose a threat to the neighboring regions.
Mumbai is the biggest hotspot in India and in Maharashtra with 1540 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus. Pune and thane in Maharashtra are also major hotspots in the country. The Union Territory of New Delhi is the close second with 1510 cases. The cities of Chennai and Coimbatore with 209 and 126 cases respectively have been the hotspot in Tamil Nadu. The state of Madhya Pradesh that witnessed the toppling of a government in the middle of the crisis has two major hotspots in the form of Indore and Bhopal. Despite Rajasthan being hailed for its Bhilwara model, the state has failed to contain the outbreak in its capital city of Jaipur that has recorded 418 cases so far.
The metro cities like Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, and others have become major hotspots as the mobility of foreign travelers is seen most in these areas. Despite that, Bengaluru and Kolkata with 77 and 11 cases each have fared well compared to the other metro cities. Although, the West Bengal government is yet to reveal the history of 144 patients.
Kerala’s Kasargod that once threatened to become the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in the country has been contained at 143 cases. Most of its cases originated from one patient that became a cluster. Mysore has been a worry for the government of Karnataka as the origin of the infection of the cluster of a pharma company is yet to be determined. The cases continue to grow in that cluster.
These regions are unlikely to see any restrictions in the second phase of lockdown until and unless they show a tremendous containment of the outbreak.
