Nashik announces strict 10-day lockdown from 12 May to break COVID-19 chain, only essential services allowed

The Nashik district disaster management authority has announced a lockdown from 12 May to 22 May.The decision has been taken to curb the rising cases of COVID-19, after 48 deaths were reported in Nashik on 9 May. As per the orders, all activities, except the essential services, have been prohibited.Markets will remain closed although medical stores and hospitals will function normally. Grocery stores will remain open only till noon.Earlier on Monday, a meeting of the District Disaster Management Committee was held to review the coronavirus situation in the city. The committee noted that although cases are rising, people continue to violate the restrictions.Hence, the decision to extend restrictions with a strict lockdown was taken. Now, people will be allowed to step outside only if they have a valid medical reason to travel.In Nashik, the COVID-19 tally breached the 3.5 lakh mark on 9 May. A total of 3,002 new cases were reported. Around 9,289 samples were tested yesterday taking the tally to 13,45,183. Till now, 3,19,044 people have recovered.To break the chain of virus transmission, Maharashtra government had announced lockdown in the state from 22 April to 1 May.After that, it has been extended till 15 May as the number of cases and deaths were rising even during the lockdown period. The government has banned inter-city as well as inter-district travel and all non-essential services have been suspended.