In pics: Strict measures in the wake of rising Coronavirus cases and deaths

India has recorded a steady rise in the Covid-19 active cases over the past few days with a surge in daily infections in five states and Jammu and Kashmir, sparking fears of a second wave.

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Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday announced that in view of the rising Covid-19 cases, all political, religious and social gatherings will be prohibited in the state from Monday. In his televised address, he also said that political agitations will not be allowed for the next few days as they attract the crowd. "The pandemic is raising its head in the state again, but whether this is a second wave will be known in eight to 15 days," he said.

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Due to the spike in the coronavirus cases in the past few days, Amravati district in Maharashtra's Vidarbha region will be placed under a week-long lockdown from 8 pm on February 22 till 8 am on March 1. During the lockdown, all shops, except those dealing in essential commodities, will remain shut along with the government and private educational institutions, private coaching classes, training schools. People can buy items of daily need from 9 am to 5 pm. Cinema houses, gyms, swimming pools, parks will remain shut and gatherings for entertainment, educational, cultural, religious purposes etc will not be permitted.

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The Pune district administration announced curbs, including restrictions on the movement of people from 11 PM to 6 AM for non-essential activities. Schools, colleges and private coaching classes will remain closed till February 28, while hotels and restaurants will have to shut their establishments by 11 PM every day.

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Curfew would be enforced in the district between 11 pm to 5 am from Monday (February) till further orders in view of the rise in Covid-19. Those not wearing masks will be fined Rs 1,000, while marriage functions, which seem to be a factor behind the spike, will require police permission and that too with just 100 in attendance. Essential services such as hospitals, milk supply etc will not be covered in the night curfew.

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Randeep Guleria stressed the importance of vaccination, which he said is essential in India's fight against the coronavirus. "Herd immunity is something that is going to be very, very difficult to achieve and it is something one should not really think of in practical terms... because the variant strains and varying immunity with times can lead to a chance where people may have reinfection or get the infection again," he said.

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India on Monday reported a net increase of 4,421 to take its count of active coronavirus cases past the 15,000 mark, at 150,055. The count of active cases across India saw a net increase of 4,421 on Monday, compared with 2,507 on Sunday. States that have seen the biggest daily net increase in active cases are Maharashtra (4519), Punjab (136), Karnataka (58), Madhya Pradesh (57), and Delhi (46). The Indian states and UTs with the worst-case fatality rates at present are Punjab (3.22%), Maharashtra (2.47%), and Gujarat (2.20%). The rate in as many as 15 is higher than the national average.