Chhattisgarh reported 4,617 COVID-19 cases on Thursday, the highest single-day spike since the onset of the pandemic last year taking its tally to 3,53,804. The state has as many as 28,987 active cases as fresh wave of the pandemic surges.
In addition, 25 deaths were reported in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll in the state to 4,204 according to a bulletin released by the state health department.
Despite being a small state (population approximately 2.94 crores), the state has been reporting huge influx of cases during the past fortnight. The number of cases reported on Thursday was second highest in the country just after the big hot spot Maharashtra, which however is reporting far higher cases. On Thursday Maharashtra reported 43,183 positive cases.
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Given the worsening situation, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has hinted at possible lockdowns in some districts of the state. He tweeted late on Thursday evening to say that he has directed the district collectors to take decisions on lockdowns as required according to the local conditions.
Already, night curfews have been imposed in 22 out of 27 districts of the state from 9pm to 6am. In some of the districts business establishments have been asked to close an hour earlier. However, eateries and restaurants are allowed to operate till 10pm.
Capital Raipur and two big cities of Durg and Bilaspur continue to report maximum cases. On Thursday, Raipur reported 1,327 fresh cases followed by 996 cases in Durg and 288 in Bilaspur. Raipur and Durg reported nine and seven deaths on the day respectively, according to the health department bulletin.
The state health minister T.S. Singh Deo tweeted to say as vaccination of 45+ age group was started on Thursday, as many as 2,34,397 were vaccinated on the day. Speaking to a section of media, the minister also said that the high number of cases are due to high number of testing. During the past week, average 36,000-38,000 tests were conducted per day. On Thursday, 40,857 tests were conducted. Comparatively, in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh with almost three times population, only 25,656 tests were conducted and 2,546 were tested positive on Thursday.