Veteran actor and writer Posani Krishna Murali got contracted with coronavirus and he got admitted to Hyderabad’s AIG Hospitals. The actor informed the same to his directors and producers. Posani asked the filmmakers to forgive him and sought the blessings of his fans to return back fit. No Tollywood celebrity is tested positive for coronavirus in the recent months. Posani happens to be one of the busiest actors of Telugu cinema and he has more than a dozen films lined up. With the actor contracting with coronavirus, all the schedules of his upcoming movies would be changed. Wishing Posani Krishna Murali a speedy recovery.
Consortium of 4 cities to enhance coronavirus genome surveillance
A consortium of four Indian city clusters has been established to upscale coronavirus genomic surveillance, complementing national efforts led by the INSACOG.
The consortium comprising Bengaluru, Hyderabad, New Delhi, and Pune is established with generous support and seed funding from Rockefeller Foundation. The new effort will track the emergence of viral variants correlated to epidemiological dynamics and clinical outcomes, said CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CSIR-CCMB), Hyderabad, which is leading the consortium.
The consortium currently includes different partners in three other cities: NCBS-TIFR, InStem-DBT, and NIMHANS in Bengaluru; the CSIR-IGIB in New Delhi; and the Pune Knowledge Cluster, IISER-Pune, and CSIR-NCL in Pune.
The consortium aims to develop targeted sampling strategies based on granular epidemiological and clinical data. Coupled with intense environmental surveillance and advanced computational techniques, the consortium would also focus on building capabilities for real-time surveillance and epidemiology.
It will work closely with local governments, hospitals and clinicians. In collaboration with the INSACOG, the consortium aims to eventually make this a national effort by expanding to other strategic locations in India.
Dr Rakesh Mishra, Advisor at the CSIR-CCMB, will lead these efforts along with Prof Satyajit Mayor of the NCBS, Prof L.s. Shashidhara of the Pune Knowledge Cluster, and Dr Anurag Agrawal, of the CSIR-IGIB.
“Our aim is to develop strategies and capabilities to identify Variants of Concern before they spread widely and cause outbreaks. This will also help correlate with clinical symptoms and disease severity, potentially associated with emerging variants,” said the team.
“All the partner institutes have been fighting COVID-19 since its very beginning in the country. This much-needed collaboration will bring all their strengths together in a structured fashion,” CSIR-CCMB Director, Dr Vinay Nandicoori, said.
Corona in Arogyasri or KCR in Gandhi: A strange demand in TS
A strange demand has come up in Telangana from Covid patients over the issue of treatment to corona patients.
Corona patients are demanding Telangana government either to include corona treatment under Arogyasri or admit Telangana CM KCR in Gandhi Hospital for corona treatment.
Corona patients and their family members in Gandhi hospital are making this demand by holding placards in front of hospital.
They say the facilities in Gandhi hospital are poor and they want to get admitted in private hospitals but they cannot afford higher treatment costs in private hospitals..
For this reason they are demanding Telangana government to bring corona treatment under Arogyasri so that they can avail free treatment in private hospitals.
If not they are demanding government to admit CM KCR, who tested corona positive and undergoing treatment at his farmhouse, in Gandhi Hospital.
They say if KCR is admitted in Gandhi Hospital, officials will improve all facilities in Gandhi and they can get good treatment in Gandhi.
The demand and protests by corona patients in Gandhi has gone viral on social media platforms.
Andhra logs 4K more Covid cases, active cases cross 28K mark
Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday reported 4,157 new Covid-19 cases, taking the tally to over 9.37 lakh, while active cases reached 28,383.
The state, which was logging over 2,000 cases for some days, has now the tally double to over 4,000 cases.
There were also 18 more deaths, in the past 24 hours, pushing the toll to 7,339.
Meanwhile, 1,606 more persons have recovered in the last 24 hours, raising the number of recoveries over 9 lakh.
East Godavari district reported the highest number of cases at 617, followed by Srikakulam (522), Chittoor (517), Visakhapatnam (417), Kurnool (386), Anantapur (297), Nellore (276), Prakasam (230), Vizianagaram (154), Krishna (135), Kadapa (112) and West Godavari (60).
East Godavari’s tally has crossed 1.27 lakh, the highest among all the districts, while the state’s positivity rate rose to 6.03 per cent, against the national average of 5.32 per cent.
With 35,732 more tests, the total number of tests has crossed the 1.55 crore mark.
Coronavirus makes space for small films
A bunch of films featuring stars and young actors are slated for release in Telugu during April and May. The summer was completely jam-packed with releases and the second wave of coronavirus changed the massive plans badly. Pawan Kalyan’s comeback film Vakeel Saab released last Friday and the film is raking decent revenues all over. With the wave of cases increasing on a regular basis, all the summer releases stand postponed for now. There are several small-budget films that are waiting for a theatrical release from some time.
With all the releases getting postponed, April and May would witness several small budget films hitting the screens. Teja Sajja’s Ishq is already announced for April 23rd release and some other filmmakers are planning their release. Vishwak Sen’s Paagal may have its theatrical release as per the plan. Sundeep Kishan’s Gully Rowdy too may have its release in May. Along with these, several small films are planned for May release and the announcements will be made in the coming weeks. It would be a good opportunity for small films to rake decent revenues if they have impressive and interesting content.
Coronavirus fear for May releases
It is clear that India is impacted by the second wave of coronavirus. The situations are out of control in states like Maharashtra, Karnataka and others. These states have taken a call to impose restrictions. The situations are still in control across the Telugu states though the states had a considerable rise in the new number of cases. The filmmakers and the buyers are worried about the May releases this year if the situations continue to be alarming. The second wave impact is clearly visible on the box-office numbers last weekend.
Megastar Chiranjeevi’s Acharya is the big-budget film that will hit the screens in May. The movie is made on a huge budget and the theatrical rights too are sold for record prices. If the rule of 50 percent occupancy is imposed, Acharya may get postponed because of the stake involved. The makers as of now are completing the shooting portions. Movies like Naarappa, Balakrishna’s next, Ravi Teja’s Khiladi, Paagal are announced for May release and there are some more films which are gearing up. With a huge stake involved, all the May releases are left in confusion. The final call would be taken based on the situation in April.
TS Govt makes masks mandatory, no public gatherings till April 30
The Telangana state government on Saturday (today) issued orders making wearing a mask in public places mandatory.
The state government also imposed restrictions on public gatherings, congregations, rallies and processions, etc during the upcoming religious events till April 30, 2021 to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
These orders were issued in the wake of increasing corona positive cases in Telangana for the last few days.
The GO issued by the state government stated, “It is hereby reiterated that wearing of masks in all public places, workspaces and public means of transport shall be
mandatory across the state. Any deviation in this regard shall attract prosecution under Section 51 to 60 of Disaster Management Act 2005 and Section 188 IPC as well as other applicable laws.”
The government directed all collectors and district magistrates and commissioners/ superintendents of police in the state to strictly implement the above restrictions.
“Congregations pose a considerable threat of rapid transmission of Covid-19. Therefore, it is decided that public celebrations/observances should not be allowed in the state during upcoming religious events such as Shab-e-Barat, Holi, Ugadi, Rama Navami,Mahavir Jayanti, Good Friday, Ramzan etc till April 30, 2021,” the GO stated.
Pan Indian projects: Coronavirus playing a spoiler sport
Rana Daggubati’s recent offering Aranya released in Telugu and Tamil languages but the Hindi version is kept on hold due to the wave of coronavirus in the northern states and Maharashtra. Several Bollywood analysts say that the summer releases would be pushed but things are still going better in the Telugu states. But there are tensed situations across Tollywood as there are several pan-Indian films hitting the screens soon.
Prabhas’ Radhe Shyam and KGF: Chapter 2 are the upcoming pan-Indian projects heading for July release. The situations should turn normal at any cost to have a smooth release for these films in all the Indian languages. The makers are tensed as the cases are increasing all over the country. Several Telugu films like RRR, Pushpa, Liger will have a pan-Indian release this year. Tollywood alone is heading for a huge bet this year after 2020 is completely wasted. Hope these pan-Indian projects end up as money spinners and pave paths for many such new attempts.
Coronavirus scare from Pooja Hegde
Pooja Hegde is the busiest actress of South Indian cinema. She is juggling between the sets of her Telugu and Hindi projects. Pooja Hegde joined the sets of Akhil’s Most Eligible Bachelor recently and the actress was unwell. She had cough and cold after which the makers canceled the shoot of Most Eligible Bachelor. Pooja took coronavirus test and she was tested negative for coronavirus. The actress flew to Mumbai and will return back next week once she recovers.
The climax portions of Most Eligible Bachelor are currently shot and with this, the entire shoot of the film will be completed. Pooja will complete her portions for Most Eligible Bachelor and will join the sets of Prabhas’ Radhe Shyam in Hyderabad. She has couple of Bollywood biggies lined up which will commence shoot next year.
AP inter classes postponed again due to court case
The schools have reopened from November 2 in Andhra Pradesh after Coronavirus cases came down a little bit in the state. In a phased manner, the colleges are also being opened. Now, the intermediate classes that are scheduled to begin on Monday are postponed yet again.
The AP Intermediate Board officials have announced that the new schedule will be released soon. The decision on postponement was taken following the private colleges going to the court on the issue of the permitted class strength.
In view of the Covid guidelines, the Government permitted only 40 students per class. But, the college managements petitioned the court for restoring the class strength to 88.
The Government has permitted admissions for online enrollment. However, the college managements are appealing for offline admissions.
The college managements petitioned the court that the Government started the online admissions without giving prior intimation or guidelines to anybody. The process of reopening educational institutions had landed in many troubles in view of conflict of interests between stakeholders due to Coronavirus impact. The situation is expected to continue to be problematic till vaccine is available.
Pawan Kalyan demands Rs 1 crore compensation, govt job to kin of Covid-19 victims
Actor turned politician Pawan Kalyan on Saturday demanded that the government announce Rs 1 crore compensation and a government job to all the employees who succumbed to Covid-19.
In a statement, the Jana Sena Party president stated that frontline warriors like doctors, nurses, paramedical staff and police personnel are working relentlessly in the combat against the deadly virus that mankind had witnessed in the recent times.
In Andhra Pradesh, 200 medical doctors, medical students, nursing staff and 600 police personnel were tested positive for Covid-19. At least 10 police personnel succumbed to the coronavirus, he pointed out.
“It is the onerous responsibility of the state government to recognize the tireless efforts of the medical doctors, nurses and the police personnel. The Jana Sena Party demands that the government announce Rs 1 crore compensation along with a government to the kin of those who died due to Covid-19,” Pawan Kalyan said.
Further, the Jana Sena Party president demanded that the government grant four weeks leave to all the government employees who were tested positive.
“The employees need at least four week leave for complete recovery from Covid-19. The private organisations should also exhibit empathy towards their employees by announcing four week leave for the staff who were tested positive for coronavirus. This is the minimum that can be expected from the government as well as private companies,” Pawan Kalyan stated.
1,676 new COVID-19 cases in T’gana, tally touches 41,018
As many as 1,676 new coronavirus cases were confirmed in Telangana on Thursday, taking the number of affected in the state to 41,018, health officials said.
Ten more deaths were also reported in the state, taking the toll to 396 so far.
The state on Thursday tested 14,027 samples, the highest in a single day since the outbreak of COVID-19. With this the state has conducted 2,22,693 tests.
After ramping up the tests in the last few days, the state health authorities on Thursday changed the format of the daily media bulletin, providing all the vital statistics.
The tests per million population stand at 5,350. According to the bulletin, 18.85 per cent of the samples tested have found to be positive.
The media bulletin also mentioned that the state has 39 testing laboratories – 16 in the government sector and 23 private.
The state has a recovery rate of 67 per cent. On Thursday, 1,296 people recovered from COVID-19, taking the number of people recovered to 27,295. The state now has 13,328 active cases.
Out of 17,081 COVID beds in the government-run hospitals, 15,389 beds are vacant. Gandhi Hospital, which is designated as the centre of excellence for treating critical COVID cases, has 1,890 beds but 635 patients.
Greater Hyderabad remained the worst hit among 33 districts, accounting for 788 cases. Indicating the spread of the virus, the number of infections has increased in other districts. Ranga Reddy stands second with 224 cases and Medchal 160.
Karimnagar district reported 92 new cases, Nalgonda 64, Sangareddy 57 and Wanaparthy 51.
23 journalists test positive for Corona virus in Hyderabad
In a shocking development, 23 journalists were tested positive for Corona virus on Sunday.
It is learnt that tests were conducted on 127 journalists and 23 of them were tested positive for COVID-19. Some of the journalists were covering the Telangana secretariat beat. With 23 new cases among the media, the total number of media personnel infected with corona virus has reached around 70, out of these almost 30 are being treated in hospitals, many are home quarantined.
Recently, TV5 crime reporter Manoj succumbed to corona virus at Gandhi Hospital. He was also suffering from Myasthenia Gravis, a long term muscular disease and bilateral pneumonitis.
Constable at Naidu residence tests COVID +ve
A police constable who worked at the residence of Chandrababu Naidu in Hyderabad, has tested positive for Coronavirus. This became known after latest tests were conducted on him. The constable is actually working at Bapatla police station in Guntur district but was given duty at Naidu residence in Telangana Capital. He worked there from May 5 to June 7 and then returned to Guntur district.
Coronavirus test was conducted on him following some symptoms. He tested positive and he was found to have got this infection during his duty in Hyderabad. Another constable who worked with him there was already found to be a virus patient. With this, the police officials became alert and initiated additional precautions.
Special attention is being placed on those arriving from Hyderabad. Guntur district continues to report an increasing number of virus cases after the lockdown relaxations. Cases are being reported from Mangalagiri and Tadepalli areas where Government employees are present in large numbers. Moreover, there are some sections of people frequently travelling to Hyderabad.
AP cases went up by 222 cases in just a day on Tuesday. Overall cases till now were put at 5,858. Guntur district has got 631 virus cases till date.
TRS MLA Muthireddy’s wife, 3 others tested positive for coronavirus
After TRS Jangaon MLA Muthireddy Yadagiri Reddy who was tested positive for coronavirus on Friday, his wife Padmalata Reddy too has contracted the virus. Further, Muthireddy’s driver, gunman and cook too were tested positive for Covid-19. All the four are in quarantine.
Even as Padmalata Reddy was tested positive for coronavirus, she said she is healthy and doing well. Muthireddy is the first big political figure in the TRS to have contracted the virus in the Telangana state although legislators in other states were tested positive for Covid-19.
The TRS leader was admitted in Yashoda Hospital. It is learnt that Muthireddy Yadagiri Reddy had attended a high-level meeting on regulated cropping pattern at Pragati Bhavan addressed by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. Ministers, District Collectors, District Agriculture Officials and district representatives of Rythu Bandhu Samithi were invited to attend the meeting. This is giving jitters to the TRS leaders.
On Friday, Telangana reported 253new cases of corona, taking the state tally to 4,737. What is more worrisome is that the state has been reporting around 10 to 5 deaths each day. On Friday, the state reported eight deaths taking the total number of fatalities to 182.
Earlier in the day, GHMC Mayor Bonthu Rammohan underwent was tested negative for corona for the second time. The tests were conducted after an attender in Mayor Bonthu Rammohan’s peshi was tested positive. Following this, the municipal administration has decided to shut down the peshi. All the employees were asked to go home. The Mayor’s office on the seventh floor has been sanitised. Further, all the employees in the GHMC office were asked to undergo corona tests. Staff members have been asked to remain in home quarantine and work from home. Samples of those who came in direct contact with the staff member are being collected and results are awaited.
Earlier, a CMO staffer working in the Metro Rail Bhavan was tested positive for the infection. Recently, the employee’s son who visited Maharashtra was tested positive for coronavirus. It is learnt that the employee has contracted the virus from his son. The CMO went into a tizzy after the employee contracted the virus. Following this, the CMO employees were asked not to report to work. The government has sanitised the CMO. Dr Rajiv Sharma, Chief Advisor to Government of Telangana as well as the Chairman of Telangana State Pollution Control Board, has been directed to oversee the sanitisation efforts.
Coronavirus: India crosses China, tops in doubling rate
Despite some improvement during lockdown period, India has surpassed China in COVID-19 cases. India now has 85,761 cases as against 82,033 in Dragon country. India’s doubling time is just 13 days as against 7,966.2 days in China, 43.4 days in US, 14 days in Russia, 13.3 days in Brazil. Alarmingly, going by these figures, India tops in lowest doubling time in 15 major countries with most virus cases. India says domestic manufacturers have reached production capacity of nearly 3 lakh PPEs per day and about 3 lakh N-95 masks per day. This is sufficient to meet the country’s requirement in the immediate future.
Comparatively higher doubling rate raises concerns that if India further relaxes restrictions after Lockdown 3.0, it may lead to new virus cases once again. However, at least partial recovery of economy is considered the need of the hour. At the same time, the Centre is preparing to face any situation if virus transmissions once again report a spurt.
Manufacture of ventilators by domestic manufacturers has also started. Union Health Ministry reports say that a total of 27,920 people were cured of virus in India till now. In the last 24 hours, 1,685 patients were cured. Total recovery rate now is 34.06 per cent. The lockdown has good impact on doubling rate which improved from 3.4 days in pre-lockdown week to 12.9 days last week.
Shocking guidelines for Filmshoots post Lockdown
The Centre is slowly relaxing all the fields which are left shut from the past couple of months. The film industry is badly impacted and several producers are eagerly waiting to start the shoots soon after the lockdown once the government grants the permissions. The Centre is in plans to issue strict guidelines for the film shoots. The movie unit should come up with a certificate that the entire movie unit (cast and crew members) are not infected with coronavirus.
If anyone from the cast or crew passes away due to the coronavirus, the makers of the film should pay a compensation of Rs 50 lakhs for the family of the deceased. This will be a huge burden for the producers if any unfortunate incident happens on the sets of the films. The same guidelines would be applicable to small films and television shoots. If the government comes up with such guidelines, most of the filmmakers would wait for the coronavirus scare to be reduced instead of heading for shoots.
Corona tally in AP crosses 2,000 mark
With as many as 38 people testing coronavirus positive in Andhra Pradesh in the last 24 hours, the number of Covid-19 patients in the state climbed to 2,000 mark.
Of the 7,409 samples tested, 38 positive cases were detected in the 24 hours, according to the latest bulletin released by the health ministry. With the 38 fresh Covid-19 cases, the state tally rose to 2,018. The death toll remained at 45 .In the last 24 hours, 73 persons were discharged from hospitals after they were declared totally cured of corona virus. With this, the number of cured in the state stands at 998people. Consequently, there are 975 active cases in Andhra Pradesh.
The highest numbers cases in the last 24 hours were reported in Chittoor and Kurnool. Kurnool detected 12 new cases while Chitoor reported nine new cases, all migrant workers from Koyambedu wholesale market which is now the epicenter of the largest cluser of Covid-19 in Tamil Nadu. Of the 38 new cases in Andhra Pradesh, eight were reported in Anatapur, five in Guntur, 3 in Visakhapatnam, one in Nellore. Kurnool district’s cumulative tally tops the state list at 565, followed by Guntur and Krishna districts with 381 and 341 cases respectively.
Andhra Pradesh has been consistently reporting doube digit growth in corona cases in the last two weeks while there seems to be flattening curve in other states of the country. A six-member Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) is currently assessing the situation in Andhra Pradesh as the number of positive cases are steadily growing. The six-member team, including a senior public health specialist and a senior officer of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), held a meeting with special principal secretary (health) Jawahar Reddy last Friday and enquired about the situation in the state, especially about Kurnool, Guntur and Krishna districts where high number of positive cases were reported. On his part, Jawahar Reddy attributed the high corona incidence in the three districts to increased testing.
The team has visited monitor hotspots in Andhra Pradesh, mainly Kurnool, Guntur and Krishna districts. The team assessed thhe health infrastructure, disaster management, reviewed the hospitalisation facilities in the state, preparation of the state in terms of available beds, ramping up the number of hospitals and care centres dedicated to Covid-19 management.
The central team has reviewed the medical facilities at various hospitals and facilities in the state, assess the level of testing, availability of PPE and masks for health professionals, availability of oxygen beds, ICUs, number of surveillance teams. The team will now submit a detailed report on the situation in the state following which a central plan of action will be suggested to further contain the virus and issue necessary directions to the Andhra Pradesh government for redressal
No fish ‘prasadam’ this year in Hyderabad due to Covid-19
The annual event to distribute fish ‘prasadam’ among asthma patients will not be held this year in view of the Covid-19 pandemic and ongoing lockdown.
The Bathini Goud family of Hyderabad on Sunday announced that the event, held in the first week of June every year, will not be organised this time.
Harinath Goud, the head of the family, said they decided not to distribute fish ‘prasadam’ this year, keeping in view the public scare due to coronavirus and the lockdown restrictions.
This is the first time in many decades that family will not be distributing the fish ‘prasadam’.
The Telangana government has already extended the lockdown till May 29. “Even if the lockdown is lifted, it will not be possible to follow the physical distancing norm and hence we decided not to organise the event this year,” Harinath Goud said.
He cautioned people against some fake messages being circulated in the name of Bathini family about fish ‘prasadam’ distribution.
Every year, the family distributes fish ‘prasadam’ to asthma patients on Mrigasira Karthi, which heralds the onset of monsoon and normally falls on June 7-8.
People suffering from asthma and other respiratory problems reach here every year from various states to received fish ‘prasadam’ from the family which claims to be distributing it free of cost for 175 years.
Last week, a NGO working for child rights had urged the Telangana government not to allow the annual event in view of the coronavirus pandemic.
Balala Hakkula Sangham had said the state government should not facilitate the event.
Reiterating that that the ‘fish medicine’ is unscientific, its BHS Honorary President Achyuta Rao said the state government should not facilitate the Bathini brothers in administering it.
Thousands of asthma patients from various parts of the country gather in Hyderabad to receive fish ‘prasadam’ (offering), as the medicine began to be called by Bathini Goud family a decade ago after rationalists challenged its efficacy.
Despite the controversies which hit its popularity in recent years, people continue to throng the venue in the hope of finding some relief to their nagging respiratory problems. However, the numbers have dwindled over the years.
The asthmatics gulp down a live ‘murrel’ fish with a yellow herbal paste in its mouth, which is believed to provide the much-needed relief, if taken for three consecutive years. For vegetarians, the family gives the medicine with jaggery.
The Goud family claims that the secret formula for the herbal medicine was given to their ancestors in 1845 by a saint after taking an oath from him that it would be administered free of cost.
Every year, various government departments make elaborate arrangements for the annual event held in Exhibition Grounds in the heart of the city.
The family had been distributing the fish medicine at their ancestral house in Doodhbowli till 1997 when the communal riots in the old city had forced it to shift the venue to Nizam College grounds. Subsequently, the government persuaded them to permanently shift the venue to Exhibition Grounds.
AP corona tally at 1980, 2 more districts cross 100 mark
Andhra Pradesh’s see-saw battle with COVID-19 saw the weekend close with 50 new cases on Sunday. The death toll further increased with one more death reported from the Kurnool district. Andhra Pradesh’s nodal officer reported that the cumulative tally of COVID-19 cases in the state touched 1,980 by Sunday morning.
Of the 8,666 samples tested, 50 positive cases were detected in the 24 hours ending 10 a.m., Sunday. Chittoor district reported 16 cases — the highest numbers in AP, followed by Kurnool with 13 new cases. Six cases were detected in the Guntur district and five cases each were reported from Anantapur and Nellore districts respectively. The Prakasam district had only two cases in the past 24 hours while Kadapa, Krishna, and Visakhapatnam districts registered one case each. No new cases were reported from four of the state’s 13 districts.
Meanwhile, the death toll increased to 45, following the death of one person in the Kurnool district. The preceding 24 hours also saw 38 persons discharged from hospitals after they were declared totally cured of COVID-19. With this, the number of cured in the state stands at 925 people. Consequently, there are 1,010 active cases in Andhra Pradesh as of Sunday.
On Saturday, the state’s active cases tally had dipped below the 1,000-mark and with only 43 cases detected, Andhra Pradesh had reported it’s lowest daily tally of COVID-19 cases in weeks.
Kurnool district’s cumulative tally tops the state list at 553, followed by Guntur and Krishna districts with 376 and 338 cases respectively. Seven of the state’s 13 districts did not report any new cases in the last 24 hours.
The state’s top COVID-19 hotspots of the Kurnool district continued to top the cumulative tally charts, with 566 cases detected here till date.
Guntur’s tally stands at 382, Krishna district has 339 cases and Anantapur has 107 case. Chittoor with 112 cases and Nellore with 101 cases are the latest to cross the 100-mark in terms of cumulative numbers. With the latest updates, six of the 13 districts have crossed the 100-mark.
