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Covid-19 cases have been increasing over the past few days in India and across the world. With lockdowns being re-imposed in many areas, mobility is once again getting restricted.
The number of new coronavirus infections between March 7 and March 14 for India stood at 1,55,941, while the US’ count was higher at 3,75,693 and Brazil’s new cases were the highest at 4,64,026, according to data from Our World in Data.
State-wise rise
In India, Maharashtra saw the highest surge in the number of new cases among the States and Union Territories, according to Covid19 India data.
The count was 94,686 during the seven-day period, accounting for 60 per cent of the new infections in the country. Kerala stood next with 13,943 new infections, Punjab had 9,364 and Karnataka had 5,257. The top four States accounted for 79 per cent of the total cases, indicating that the rise in infection in the second wave has not become too widely dispersed as yet.
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In fact, States such as Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Mizoram and Nagaland witnessed less than 10 new infections between March 7 and March 14.
Mobility trends
According to the Google Covid-19 Community Mobility Report, movement to retail and recreation centres, parks and public gardens, transit stations such as subway, bus and train stations, and to places of work has declined in the period between January 26 to March 9. This suggests that people are being cautious about moving about for non-essential work.
A similar pattern can be observed in States that saw the highest increase in the number of new cases during the past week — Maharashtra and Karnataka witnessed a sharp drop in movement for all purposes with the exception of grocery and pharmacy and residential.
The 30 and 25 per cent drop in retail and recreational mobility in Maharashtra and Karnataka shows that the second wave is beginning to take a toll on lifestyle again.
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