Agra, Jul 12 (IANS): Even with the lockdown now in force, cases of COVID-19 positive patients continued to rise at an alarming rate in the four districts of the Agra division.
In the past 24 hours, Mainpuri reported 42 cases, Mathura 21, Agra 14 and Etah five.
In Firozabad, the district authorities have stepped up testing of people in the containment zones.
The total number of cases in Agra now is 1,388. So far 1,130 patients have been discharged after recovery. The number of active cases is 166.
With one more death of a 75-year-old patient, the death toll in Agra stands at 92. The total number of containment zones in the district is 83, a cause for worry.
The state government's nodal officer, Additional Principal Secretary Hemant Rao, has had several rounds of meetings with administration officials, health workers, and elected representatives. Rao directed the Municipal Corporation to step up the cleanliness drive in the interior city areas and ensure there was no water logging during rains.
To strictly enforce the lockdown till Monday morning, additional police pickets have been posted and barriers on all crossings put up. Senior police officials, including IG zone, the SSP have been continuously visiting hotspots.
More than 5,000 vehicles were challaned on Saturday. Over 200 were fined for spitting in public. Rs 22,650 was collected from 217 charged with spitting. Dozens of fire brigade tenders and municipal corporation tankers have been busy sanitising areas around the Taj Mahal and other hotspots in the city. All markets are closed and the district borders sealed to ensure there was no movement in or out of the city.
Temples in Mathura and Vrindavan are closed. The police has put up barriers in Goverdhan to ensure pilgrims did not reach the holy town for Parikrama. Normally, during the Shravan Maas, holy months of Shravan and Bhadon, the religious shrines associated with Sri Krishna in Braj Mandal, attract millions of pilgrims. But these days the narrow streets of Vrindavan are deserted. Ritualistic pooja in temples continues, but devotees are not permitted to enter the temple premises, said Jagan Nath Poddar, convener of Friends of Vrindavan.