Amid Covid surge, Maharashtra likely to put curbs on liquor shops, places of worship too

Some of the restrictions that have been announced by the Maharashtra government so far include curb on the movement of people from 11pm and 5am unless it is for essential work.

After Maharashtra brought back some some lockdown-like curbs, including imposition of a night curfew, in the face of surging Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases, state health minister Rajesh Tope on Sunday said the ambit of restrictions will be widened to cover liquor shops and places of worship as well.

Meanwhile, the state government on Sunday issued a fresh set of guidelines for gyms and beauty salons allowing them to operate at 50 per cent capacity. (Satish Bate/HT FILE PHOTO)

"Curbs in crowded areas like liquor shops and places of worship will be imposed as well. However, even as cases are rising, hospital bed occupancy and oxygen demand are low. When these start rising, we will enforce stricter restrictions," news agency PTI quoted the health minister as saying.

Restrictions imposed by the state government a day earlier were in the interest of people, he added.

Some of the restrictions that have been announced by the Maharashtra government so far include curb on the movement of people from 11pm and 5am unless it is for essential work.

According to the guidelines, the movement of five or more people between 5am and 11pm has been barred in public places to prevent overcrowding.

However, citizens have been allowed to travel by public transport provided they are fully vaccinated, the order said.

Essential work includes medical emergencies, essential services, and movement to and from airports, railway stations and bus stations with a valid ticket, as well as travel to and from sites of work that are open for 24 hours, such as call centres.

Meanwhile, the state government on Sunday issued a fresh set of guidelines for gyms and beauty salons allowing them to operate at 50 per cent capacity. In a notification on Saturday, the government ordered all beauty salons, spas, gyms to be closed.

Maharashtra's infection tally stood at 68,75,656 as of Saturday and the death toll at 1,41, 627, leaving the state with 1,73,238 active cases, as per the state health department.

The state's Omicron tally climbed to 1,009.