Situation grim in Mumbai, Kolkata

The Covid-19 situation is "especially serious" in Mumbai, Pune, Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata and a few other places in West Bengal, and violation of lockdown measures risk the spread of the novel coronavirus, the Centre said yesterday.

In a communication to state governments, the home ministry said there have been several incidents of violence against Covid-19 frontline healthcare professionals, complete violation of social distancing norms and movement of vehicles in urban areas. These should be stopped, it said.

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The death toll due to Covid-19 rose to 543 and the number of cases climbed to 17,265 in the country yesterday. 1,600 new cases reported in last 24 hours.

The situation is "especially serious" in Indore in Madhya Pradesh, Mumbai and Pune in Maharashtra, Jaipur in Rajasthan, and Kolkata, Howrah, East Medinipur, North 24 Parganas, Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Jalpaiguri in West Bengal, the ministry said.

There are 4,203 confirmed coronavirus cases in Maharashtra of which 223 people lost their lives.

In Madhya Pradesh, out of the 1,407 cases, 70 people have succumbed to the disease. In West Bengal, there are 339 confirmed cases of which 12 people died due to the infection, according to health ministry data.