Exams postponed in Maha; popular shrines close doors

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government on Monday postponed school, college examinations and ordered the closure of all educational institutions across the state till

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government on Monday postponed school, college examinations and ordered the closure of all educational institutions across the state till further orders as the number of coronavirus cases in the state mounted to 39.

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“Next 15-20 days are most important for the state. We will have to take all the precautions. It has been observed that the rise of the cases in the second week and the third week of the outbreak is very high and hence the state government does not want to take any chances,” said chief minister Uddhav Thackeray after holding a meeting to review the situation arising out of the coronavirus epidemic. He said there was no need to afraid of but precautions have become a must for all.

With several people complaining of poor maintenance of quarantine facilities, the authorities in Mumbai have organised them at four hotels for those who want to pay. The hotels will charge the patients for staying there. But the rates will be half of the regular charges.

Thackeray appealed to the people to observe self-discipline and avoid crowded places and travel unless absolutely required. “We have not decided to shut public transport, restaurants, and hotels yet. We are expecting people to do their bit as well to prevent the spread of the epidemic.”

He added they will ask religious heads to not allow gathering such as processions at temples, mosques and other such places.

Health minister Rajesh Tope said the state was in stage two of the outbreak when people infected abroad were passing the infection to others. “We are taking measures to contain stage three which may see a sudden spike in the number of infected persons if the community transmission starts,” he said.

Thackeray said that in the first week of the outbreak, Iran had only two positive cases. But in the second week, the cases rose to 43 and 245 in the third, he added. Thackeray said by the fifth week, the country had over 12,500 positive cases.

Authorities in Mumbai said they will ask private establishments in the city to work with half of their workforce and let their employees work from home on a rotational basis to avoid overcrowding of public transportation systems.

Around 4.4 million commuters use suburban railway network in the city daily.

The government has also decided to put marks on the hands of people, who have been asked to undergo self-quarantine so that they are prevented from mixing with others.

Several popular religious places such as Mumbai’s Siddhivinayak Temple announced the closure of the shrine to the devotees. National parks, too, have been shut.

The state government has also restricted the entry of visitors to the state secretariat. It plans to request the state election commission to postpone all the elections for the next three months. Around 1,570 gram panchayats are scheduled to go to the polls on March 29.

So far, the state government has isolated 794 people. Of them, 717 have tested negative. As many as 108 people are still is isolation wards and 621 have been home quarantined. At least 442 people have been allowed to go home after completing 14-day quarantine, said health officials.

Tope said people coming from 10 coronavirus affected countries will be divided into three categories. A category will be of those who show clear symptoms and they would be directly taken to isolation wards. B category will have senior citizens with health problems, who would be put in quarantine facilities. C category will include others who do not have any symptoms but will have to undergo self-quarantine at home.“