Maharashtra will impose a night curfew in the entire state from Sunday amid the alarming rise in coronavirus cases. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday instructed officials to impose a curfew from the night of March 28 as he also asked them to strictly enforce the restrictions and COVID-19 norms in the state. Thackeray also warned of stricter restrictions if the people did not observe COVID-19 safety protocol. The chief minister reviewed the COVID-19 situation in the state in a meeting with divisional commissioners, district collectors, superintendents of police and deans of medical colleges.
Maharashtra recorded 35,952 coronavirus infections on Thursday, the highest one-day rise since the pandemic began.The state added over one lakh cases in four days.
‘No Intention of Imposing Lockdown’
On the prospect of imposing a lockdown in Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray said, “I have no intention of imposing a lockdown, but given the growing number of patients, there is a possibility that the health facilities that we have set up on a large scale across the state will also be reduced.”
Signs of strict restrictions
The Maharashtra government has issued guidelines to private establishments regarding changes in attendance of their employees as well as office hours. They should be closely monitored to see if they are complying with the rules and strict action should be taken against them if the SOPs imposed on them in crowded places like malls, bars, hotels, cinemas are not implemented. Malls in Maharashtra are to remain closed from 8 pm to 7 am.
The Maharashtra chief minister also instructed that care should be taken to ensure that there would be no crowds and restrictions on socio-political and cultural programs should be observed.
Thackeray directed each district to focus on the availability of health facilities, beds and medicines and the need to increase them. He also instructed the district collector to apply lockdown if there is a need in the district where the number of patients is increasing rapidly, but do not apply it suddenly.
‘Covid-19 Isn’t Over Yet’
Drawing parallels with Britain, Thackeray said, “After a second wave in a country like Britain, they are now slowly reopening things after a two-and-a-half month lockdown. The same situation is happening now. The public needs to realize that the threat has not gone away, on the contrary, it has increased.”
“The number of patients is increasing rapidly, it is not possible to say how much more it will increase in the coming period. In such a case, there is a need to consider strict measures,” the chief minister said.
‘Speed Up Vaccination Drive’
Although the state is number one in the country in terms of immunisation program today, Uddhav Thackeray said that the program should be implemented more effectively. The COVID-19 vaccination tally in Maharashtra reached 52,65,462 with 2,14,123 people getting the vaccine doses in a single day, officials said on Friday. Of the 2,14,123 who were vaccinated on Thursday, 10,397 were healthcare workers, 29,160 frontline workers, 34,197 people in the age group of 40 to 60 suffering from co- morbidities, while 1,24,632 were senior citizens who received the first dose, they said.
Meanwhile, Medical Education Minister Amit Deshmukh said that it should be ascertained whether the village is ready for vaccination and while speeding up the vaccination process, the state should ask the Center to make the vaccine available in large numbers. He also expressed the need for timely delivery of oxygen to the producers to ensure smooth supply of oxygen. He said that vaccination of teachers and professors should be completed before the commencement of schools and colleges, and those working in the transport system should also be vaccinated. As the number of patients is increasing in the rural areas of the state
Guidelines on Holi, Good Friday, Easter Celebrations
People should celebrate Holi on March 28 and Rang Panchami on March 29 in a simple manner considering the rise in COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra and crowding should be avoided, the state government said. Noting that the state’s Konkan region has a tradition of carrying a ‘palkhi’ or palanquin in a procession on Holi, the state government said this should be confined to temples and asked the local administration to do the needful. “No big religious or cultural programmes should be organised on the day of Holi and Rang Panchami,” the government added.
The state government also urged the Christian community to observe Good Friday (on April 2) and celebrate Easter Sunday (on April 4) in a simple manner in view of the spread of the disease. The government said, if a church is spacious, maximum of 50 persons should attend the prayer meet there during the holy week from March 28 to April 4. If the church is smaller in size, then a special prayer meet should be held in the presence of 10-25 persons, and four to five special masses may be organised depending on the need, it said.
It said adherence to COVID-19 protocols, including wearing masks, using hand sanitisers etc, must be ensured, adding that efforts must also be made to broadcast prayer meets online. “No religious programme that can attract crowd in any way should be organised. Besides, procession should not be taken out,” the statement said.
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