'50 people for weddings, 20 for funerals': BMC revises Covid-19 restrictions

Under the new guidelines issued by the BMC, theatres - single screen and multiplex - and hotels will have to operate at 50% capacity. No social, political and religious gatherings will be allowed till further notice.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Monday released a list of new guidelines curbing social, political and religious gatherings, and capped the limit of people allowed to attend weddings and funerals in the wake of rising Covid-19 cases.

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation headquarters. (HT FILE) (HT_PRINT)

Several parts of Maharashtra, witnessing a surge in cases, have gone under lockdown to control the disease spread. On Monday, Mumbai added over 1500 Covid-19 cases for the sixth day in a row, taking its tally to 3,43,947. Monday's addition of 1,712 cases was also the third day when the surge was over the 1700-mark, with 1,962 cases being reported on Sunday.

Under the new guidelines issued by the BMC, theatres - single screen and multiplex - and hotels will have to operate at 50% capacity. No social, political and religious gatherings will be allowed till further notice.

The cap on guests allowed for weddings has been fixed at 50 and at 20 for funerals by the civic body. All offices, except health care and essential services, will have to operate at 50% strength. BMC has also advised work from home.

The restrictions are aimed at bringing the disease spread under check by enforcing graded safety protocols, a method that has prevented cluster infections for the country in the last year of the pandemic.

Not only Mumbai, Pune and Thane but several cities and towns in Maharashtra, including those in Vidarbha and Marathwada regions, have been witnessing a spike in Covid-19 cases. Lockdown or restrictions have been imposed in several cities or districts in the state in a bid to prevent the spread of the virus.

According to BMC, as many as 90 per cent of patients in Mumbai, who tested positive for Covid-19 in January and February this year, were residents of high-rise buildings, while the remaining 10 per cent were from slums and chawls. Of the 23,002 people, who tested positive for Covid-19 in the first two months of this year, 90 per cent were residents of buildings and 10 per cent others from slums and chawls, the civic body had said last week in a release.

The number of coronavirus containment zones and sealed buildings in the city has increased by 170 per cent and 66.42 per cent, respectively, from the beginning of this month, BMC stated.