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Covid-19: Uddhav Thackeray to address people of Maharashtra at 8:30pm
Maharashtra is among the eight states in India which account for 84.61% of the daily new Covid-19 cases.
Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray will be addressing the people of the state tonight at 8:30 pm, according to Mumbai mayor Kishori Pednekar. News agency ANI reported that the chief minister will also be chairing a high-level meeting today with officials over the Covid-19 situation in the state.
For a while now, Maharashtra has been reporting the highest Covid-19 caseload in India, both in terms of active coronavirus positive patients and the total number of cases. It is also among the eight states which account for 84.61% of the daily new Covid-19 cases and continue to show a steep rise in the tally.
Yesterday, the state had reported as many as 43,183 new Covid-19 cases and 249 deaths in a mere span of 24 hours. This accounted for both the highest one-day rise since the pandemic began, as well as the highest number of deaths since October last year.
To combat the intensifying threat, chief minister Thackeray has declared a state-wide night curfew from Sunday under the Maharashtra government's 'Mission Begin Again' program. Officials are also considering stricter control measures, including shutting down religious places and restricting train travel, according to ANI.
The administration is also mulling over another potential shutdown, although no official announcement has yet been made in this regard. It may not decide to impose a "blanket lockdown", but stricter curbs might be implemented in a phased manner, an official said, adding that the state government is likely to decide on shutting down restaurants, hotels, theatres and reducing business house hours this week.
According to an official statement, in a meeting with chief minister Thackeray and Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope last Monday, members of the state Covid-19 task force had recommended strict measures, including a 'limited-period lockdown', to counter the alarming surge in infections and deaths.
India saw 81,466 new coronavirus infections being reported in a span of 24 hours, the highest single-day rise in six months, taking the COVID-19 tally of cases to 1,23,03,131, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.
