Maharashtra mulls further relaxations in curbs, records 7,302 fresh Covid cases

The state’s active case count stood at 94,168 on Thursday, while total cases stood at 6,245,057. Maharashtra saw 120 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking the tally to 131,038

Amid increasing pressure from various quarters to provide further relaxations in Covid-19 curbs in the state, the Maharashtra government is expected to take a decision over opening suburban train services for a few more categories in the next few days.

Representational image. (ANI)

Also, the state government is looking to make a decision on relaxing shop timings, opening of malls and lifting of curbs on restaurants.

Amid the state mulling relaxations, it added 7,302 fresh cases. The state’s active case count stood at 94,168 on Thursday, while total cases stood at 6,245,057. Maharashtra saw 120 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking the tally to 131,038. Mumbai saw 389 fresh Covid-19 infections, taking its tally to 732,971. The city reported 10 deaths, pushing the toll to 15,810.

A senior official said the demand for relaxations has increased from political, social organisations and business circles, forcing the government to chalk out a plan to reopen some activities and allow further relaxation in restrictions imposed for management of Covid-19 pandemic.

The relief and rehabilitation department has put the system required for the issuance of universal passes using QR codes to the employees from the categories to be allowed to commute in trains. The process of issuing universal passes to the employees in the sector, which are already allowed to commute in trains, has already started. “Employees from state and central government, ports, cargo services, and electricity supply have already been allowed to commute on the trains. They will be issued QR code-based universal passes to restrict unauthorised commuting,” said an official from Mantralaya. The passes will be made compulsory for travel, the official added.

Cities and areas in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) are following the restrictions in level three of categorised curbs specified for the management of the Covid-19 pandemic. The state government is considering extending the relaxations to a few more categories. “Teachers, media employees and few more categories are expected to be added to the list of the people allowed to commute. The decision over allowing women in non-peak hours is also expected, but the final decision will be taken at a higher level,” the official said.