BHOPAL: The coronavirus has raged through the state since last year. But the disease is now spreading to the districts which it did not hit earlier. There are nearly 20 districts where the virus has spread very fast this month and the number of patients shot up.
The districts where the virus has spread are Hoshangabad, Satna, Morena, Jhabua, Harda, Sidhi, Anuppur, Chhatarpur, Singrauli, Datia, Seoni, Sheopur, Bhind, Alirajpur, Umaria, Tikamgarh, Panna, Niwari, Mandla, Ashoknagar, Dindori and Agar Malwa. In these districts, the number of patients is increasing every day. In March, there were only eight active cases in Niwari, but, in the past five days, the number has maxed up by 95%. In these districts, there have been 762 active patients till April 24.
Hoshangabad recorded 93 active cases till end-March, but now, the number has shot up to more than 1,400. Similarly, 46 cases were reported from Singrauli. Now, the number is more than 1,500. The way the number of patients is increasing in these small districts every day indicates that the problem will increase in the coming days. Most of the cases are reported from the rural areas adjacent to these districts.
Arresting the virus in villages is becoming a bigger challenge for the government than doing it in the urban areas. Because of the rising number of cases in these districts, the health services there have gone kaput. In some rural areas, the number of deaths is increasing because of a lack of medical facilities. The situation arising out of the corona pandemic is going out of control in the rural areas since the government is paying attention only to the big cities.
