Aurangabad, July 12: Latur city in Maharashtra's Marathwada region will be placed under a fortnight-long "strict" lockdown from the midnight of July 15, a senior official said on Sunday. The lockdown will help reduce the spread of COVID-19 in the district, Collector G Shreekant said. According to the authorities, the district has so far reported 682 coronavirus positive cases and 33 deaths.

"The lockdown will start from July 15 midnight and end on July 30. The essential and emergency services will continue to operate. However, liquor shops will be shut from Monday itself," the collector said. "The lockdown will be strict and the fine for not following the norms is higher than what was during the previous lockdown," Shreekant said. Coronavirus in India: Live Map.

The decision about the lockdown in rural parts of Latur district will be taken after a meeting of public representatives on Monday, he said. According to him, further guidelines about the lockdown will be shared on Monday evening. "During the lockdown, we plan to collect the swabs of suspected patients from their homes through our teams," he said.

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