Health minister Rajesh Tope: Covid-19 restrictions will be lifted, mask to continue

This is for the betterment of the health of citizens and I am sure citizens understand it very well, said Tope

Mumbai: As the Covid-19 cases go down drastically in the city, the state government is thinking of lifting all restrictions imposed at the peak of the third wave to control its spread. State health minister Rajesh Tope on Wednesday told the media, “We are taking decisions of relaxations step by step and keeping a strict watch on the cases in the state, country, and the world. Though there are hardly any restrictions now, further relaxations will be announced by the chief minister shortly.”

Huge crowd at Juhu beach, not following social distancing norms amid Covid-19 pandemic. (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT Photo)

According to the data by the Maharashtra health department, in 29 days of March, the state has reported over 7,300 cases compared to over 130,000 in February and more than one million cases in January.

The decision to lift the existing restrictions was taken during the meeting of the State Executive Committee on Tuesday.

Tope, however, said though the restrictions will go, wearing a mask in public and crowded places will remain. “Even the central government has kept the general advisory of wearing masks, and we would recommend citizens to continue wearing them while stepping out, especially in crowded places. This is for the betterment of the health of citizens and I am sure citizens understand it very well.”

On Wednesday the state reported 19 cases and two deaths taking the total tally to 7,873,841 and the toll to 147,782. There are 930 active cases in the state. Meanwhile, Mumbai on Wednesday reported 38 cases and zero Covid-19 deaths taking the total tally to 1,057,031 and the toll stands at 19,559. There are 1,037,180 recoveries in the city and the recovery rate is 98% and the mortality rate is 1.85%. The daily positivity rate on Wednesday is 0.29% and there are 292 active cases in the city. The daily hospitalisation rate of the city is 0.05%.

Owing to the cases going down, the central government lifted the restrictions under the Disaster Management Act, and the state government is expected to follow the same.

Though the SEC has decided to lift nearly all curbs as per directions from the central government, a final decision will be taken by chief minister Uddhav Thackeray after due deliberation with the state-appointed task force and other officials.