In the wake of sudden surge in COVID-19 cases in Nagpur, Municipal Commissioner Radhakrishnan B and Mayor Dayashankar Tiwari jointly convened a meeting at the Corona War Room on Saturday.

NMC took several important steps during the meet in order to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the city.

Deputy Mayor Manisha Dhavade, Standing Committee Chairperson Vijay Jhalke, Leader of the Opposition Sandeep Jadhav, Leader of Opposition Tanaji Vanve, Municipal Commissioner Radhakrishnan B, Health Committee Chairman Virendra Kukreja, Deputy Leader Varsha Thackeray, Senior Councillor Sunil Agarwal, Corporation Medical Health Officer Dr Sanjay Chilkar, Dr Narendra Bahirwar, IGGMCH Superintendent Dr Ajay Keoliya, Medical Superintendent of GMCH Dr Avinash Dr. Gawande, Assistant Medical Health Officer of NMC Vijay Joshi, Nodal Officer Dr Tikesh Bisen, Assistant Commissioner Prakash Varade, Ashok Patil, Vijay Humne, Ganesh Rathod, Harish Raut, Assistant Commissioner Sushma Mandge, Sadhna Patil and Zonal Medical Health Officers of all the zones were present during the meet.

In the meeting, Mayor Dayashankar Tiwari identified nine hotspots in the city: Khamla, Swawlambi Nagar, Jayatala, Ayodhya Nagar, New Bidipeth, Vathoda, Dighori, Jaripatka and Jafarnagar, where number of COVID-19 cases were high, and instructed to resume the administrative proceedings, that were initiated during the early days of COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

On Saturday, 250 citizens from these COVID-19 hotspot areas were tested.

The Maypor instructed to immediately inform and alert the concerned corporators of the areas, where high number of COVID-19 patients have been detected, and also directed Rapid Response Teams (RRT) to trace 20 people who had come into contact with each aCOVID-19 patient.

He also directed mobile COVID-19 testing vans to visit the concerned areas and get the locals tested.

Mayor Dayashankar Tiwari instructed to test the employees of grocery shops, salons, laundries, food stores, etc, in the city hotspots.

February 16 marks Vasant Panchami. It is the day when numerous wedding ceremonies would be conducted. Such places are at high risk of turning into COVID-19 hotspots, as people widely ignore safety norms while celebrating.

Municipal Commissioner Radhakrishnan B directed administration to keep a keen eye on the celebration halls and lawns on February 16. Laws and halls, that would be found accommodating more people than permissible numbers, would be sealed.

Similarly, if a person from any apartment is found to have contracted COVID-19, all the residents of that apartment would have to undergo testing. In case of opposition or evasion, NMC Commissioner issued strict instructions to seal the flats and residential areas.

The Commissioner also directed to conduct contact tracing of the citizens, who took COVID-19 test from private pathology labs in Nagpur, and take immediate action to treat high-risked non-Covid and Covid patients in all private and government hospitals.

He further instructed RRT to visit schools and check whether guidelines were being followed, and to test the students in the hostel areas as well.

An emergency inspection would be carried out by the corporation’s team in the congested areas or areas with high risk of COVID-19 infections.

?With decrease in number of COVID-19 patients, the citizens started ignoring safety norms. However, this is a serious matter. We all need to follow rules and maintain extreme precaution, in the same way we did in the early days of COVID-19 outbreak, Mayor Dayashankar Tiwari said.

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Citizens attending weddings should wear masks and use hand sanitizers. I appeal to the people to follow rules with self-discipline, and to ensure that not more than five people gather in one shop, he added.