Maharashtra’s Covid-19 surge worsens, curbs intensify, lockdown back

The Maharashtra government on Sunday announced a partial lockdown of the state from 8pm on Monday till April 30, in view of the alarming rise in Covid-19 cases

The Maharashtra government on Sunday announced a partial lockdown of the state from 8pm on Monday till April 30, in view of the alarming rise in Covid-19 cases. The state also recorded its highest one-day spike of 57,074 fresh infections.

(Anshuman Poyrekar/HT Photo)

Besides a complete lockdown on weekends (see box), a strict night curfew of 11 hours and prohibition of gatherings of more than five people during the day, the state has announced shutting down of shops and establishments dealing in non-essential commodities, restaurants, eateries, malls, theatres, multiplexes and religious places.

The state government has imposed three-fold restrictions from 8pm on April 5. The night curfew, which has been in place since last week, has been made stringent by allowing only people engaged in essential services and those with a valid reason to step out of their homes from 8pm to 7am. There will be complete lockdown on weekends between 8pm on Friday and 7am on Monday. Assembly of more than five people from 7am to 8pm has also been prohibited as per provisions of section 144 of CrPC, the notification issued by the government has stated.

Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray convened an urgent meeting of his council of ministers on Sunday to deliberate on stricter curbs. The partial lockdown was allowed after the cabinet meeting and the detailed SOP was issued later in the day. Before the cabinet meeting, Thackeray spoke to leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray held meetings with key industrialists and producers of TV serials and films. Thackeray, in his address to the people of Maharashtra on Friday, had hinted at stricter curbs by the weekend. He also warned that the state was on the verge of a lockdown if the surge continued for another 15 days as there could be a serious shortage of beds and health services.

Maharashtra reported its highest ever one-day spike of 57,074 cases, which led to breaching of the 3 million mark of cases, which stand at 3,010,597. Mumbai city remained the highest contributor to the daily caseload with 11,206 new infections, pushing the tally to 452,681. The active cases in the state stands at 430,503, including the highest number (81,317) in Pune and (66,803) in Mumbai.

The surge in cases has resulted in a shortage of beds and oxygen in many cities and districts, forcing the state government to shut industrial units consuming oxygen in large quantities to shut.

Under the new phase of Break the Chain, shops, establishments operating in non-essential commodities, hotels, multiplexes, theatres, water parks, clubs, salons and beauty parlours have been shut. Religious places across faiths have been shut down, though the priests attached to them have been allowed to carry out daily rituals at them.

Private offices, too, have been instructed to go on work-from-home mode, while government offices are allowed to work at 50% of their work force. The private offices in essential services, including banking, insurance, pharmaceuticals, water-power supply are allowed to operate from offices, while government offices dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic will operate at 100% of their workforce.

“We are not touching the industrial sector as it is directly linked with the financial health of the state. The industrial units, construction sites are allowed to operate, while the shooting of films and TV serials can go on by adhering to the Covid-19 protocol,” Nawab Malik, minority affairs minister, said after the cabinet meeting. He said that the public transport, including trains, buses, auto-taxis, flights can continue to operate by adhering to revised norms, Taxi and autos can operate at 50% of their capacity, while no standing passengers are allowed in buses and long-distance trains.

The government has not reduced the timings of commuting in the local trains for the general public in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). The state expects the crowding to reduce as private offices, shops, establishments in non-essential services are not allowed to operate. Similarly, the e-commerce sector has been allowed to operate with home deliveries allowed between 7am and 8pm. The vaccination of delivery boys has been made mandatory, though the notification is silent on how they will be vaccinated if they are below 45 years of age.

The housing societies with more than five active patients will now be declared as mini containment zones, with not outsiders allowed to visit premises, according to the state notification. Fadnavis announced full cooperation with the state government. “We are going through a scary stage of the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. The transmission of the virus is faster and proving fatal, leading to a rise in the mortality rate. We have appealed to BJP workers and leaders to cooperate with state authorities and actively participate in the vaccination drive. But at the same time, the state government should undertake awareness drive to apprise people with the fatal nature of the new strain. The state government should also stop the disconnection of the electricity supply for non-payment of bills,” he said.

State health minister Rajesh Tope said that besides stepping up health care infrastructure, the state government is aiming at ramping up the vaccination drive. “After vaccinating 462,000 citizens on Saturday, we are now aiming to increase the daily numbers to more than 600,000 people per day by increasing vaccination centres and operating them 24X7. Our entire focus will be breaking the chain of transmission. Similarly, districts administrations have also been directed to increase the number of beds. To overcome the shortage of oxygen supply, which we have been facing even after reserving 90% of the production for medical purposes ,we have decided to shut down the industrial units consuming oxygen in large quantities,” he said.

Tope said a decision about Class 10 and 12 exams will be taken after due deliberation with state board, central boards and experts form the education sector. “School education minister Varsha Gaikwad told the state cabinet that they have prepared various options in relation to Class 10 and 12 exams and the decision will be taken after due deliberation. She will discuss the issue with chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, officials from state board, other boards including CBSE, ICSE before arriving at a certain decision. They tapping the option of promoting students to a certain extent,” he said.

Tope said the state was taking strict action against black marketing related to a few crucial medicines like Remdesivir.