This is how Nashik is dealing with COVID-19 spike: Entry fee to enter markets

Nashik is using a different approach to contain COVID-19 spread. The district authorities there have imposed entry fee in market areas to prevent overcrowding, which can increase spread of coronavirus.

Maharashtra is the state worst affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the highest number of active cases (34,1887 as of today) in the country. According to the Union ministry of health and family welfare (MoHFW), eight of the top ten districts with the highest number of active Covid-19 cases are from Maharashtra. These are Pune, Mumbai, Nagpur, Thane, Nashik, Aurangabad, Nanded and Ahmednagar. The other two non-Maharashtra districts are Bengaluru Urban in Karnataka and Ernakulam in Kerala. To contain the surge in coronavirus cases, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan has written to Chief Secretaries of all states and Union Territories seeking action at the district levels. The Centre has also listed out 7-step strategy to deal with Covid spike at district-level. Meanwhile, Nashik is using a different approach to contain COVID-19 spread. The district authorities there have imposed entry fee in market areas to prevent overcrowding, which can increase spread of coronavirus. For visiting any market in the city, you will now have to pay Rs. 5 each time. But some traders and buyers are not in favour of this move.

Rs.5 per shopper to access the market for one hour

Nashik City Police Commissioner, Deepak Pandey, said that the markets would be sealed with one entry point and a ticket of Rs. 5 per person would be required to enter market area for an hour. Whoever breaches the one-hour deadline, he/she will be fined Rs. 500. Vendors and shopkeepers would be issued passes. This is an attempt to save the city from entering lockdown, he added. On Tuesday, Nashik reported a single-day jump of 3,532 new COVID-19 cases and 23 casualties, taking the tally in the district to 1,78,214 while the death toll rose to 2,374.

Maharashtra sees a dip in daily cases count

After recording the highest-ever single-day spike on Sunday, Maharashtra on Tuesday witnessed a dip in daily cases count. The state reported over 27,000 infections in the last 24 hours on March 30, as against over 31,000 cases recorded on March 29 and 40,414 cases a day before. However, the dip in daily count is attributed to reduced testing because of Holi holiday. Overall, India on Tuesday registered over 53,000 fresh coronavirus infections, taking the nationwide tally to over 1.21 crore. The country's death toll stands at over 1.62 lakh.

With inputs from agencies