While Maharashtra reports the second-highest COVID-19 cases in India, there is a district in Maharashtra that has been declared COVID-free.

The local administration on August 6, 2021 informed that Maharashtra’s Bhandara district has become COVID- free after the only patient under treatment was discharged from the hospital and no new infections were reported during the day.

Despite conducting an average of 600 tests daily, no new cases have been reported since the past three days in Bhandara. It took 15 months for the district to get coronavirus-free status.

“There are no coronavirus patients in the district now,” a release from the district information officer said.

Bhandara’s District collector Sandip Kadam said that collective efforts of the administration and cooperation of people played a crucial role in making the district, located in eastern Maharashtra, free of the deadly virus.

“Although the number of coronavirus patients in the district is zero today, people need to be careful in the coming days and follow COVID-19 protocols,” he added.

During the second wave of COVID-19, Bhandara was one of the worst-hit in Maharashtra that witnessed more than 12,800 patients under treatment on April 18. It is a huge number for a district with an overall population of less than 15 lakhs.

Being a rural and tribal-dominated district and with limited medical facilities, Bhandara saw oxygen and hospital bed shortages during the second wave.

According to the district collector, they strictly followed the three-pronged strategy of ‘testing, tracing, and treatment’.

The district did a good job in controlling the first wave and the spread was well under control till mid-February this year, he added.

Bhandara’s civil surgeon Dr. Riyaz Farooqui was hopeful that the district will continue to remain free from the virus.

“If people continue to cooperate, we can remain COVID-free for a longer period. The last three days have seen zero new cases. In July, there were zero cases in more than 10 days. Mask and physical distancing are the keys to continue this status,” Dr. Farooqui said.

Dr. Farooqui added that his department is ready to face the challenge from the imminent third wave of COVID-19.

“We can delay the third wave if we continue to be cautious. The more it is delayed, the lesser will be the impact of the third wave,” he added.

As per the official figures, the Bhandara district has witnessed 59,809 COVID cases and 1,133 fatalities, so far.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra reported 5,539 new COVID cases, 5,859 recoveries, and 187 deaths in the last 24 hours.

With this, the total caseload in the state stands at 63, 41,759, recoveries at 61, 30, 137, and the death toll at 1, 33, 717, while the active caseload is currently at 74,483.