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Maharashtra mulls extending eatery, restaurant timings to 10pm
On Tuesday, the state added 5,609 fresh Covid cases, taking the tally to 6,363,442. It added 137 fatalities, pushing the toll to 134,201. The active case count in the state stood at 66,123
The Maharashtra Covid task force has given its go-ahead to the state government reopen malls and extend the timings for eateries and restaurants. The task force is preparing a standard operating procedure (SOP) for the state to allow reopening of malls and extend timings of eateries and restaurants beyond the current 4pm. However, the final call will be taken by CM Uddhav Thackeray.
On Tuesday, the state added 5,609 fresh Covid cases, taking the tally to 6,363,442. It added 137 fatalities, pushing the toll to 134,201. The active case count in the state stood at 66,123. Mumbai added 239 fresh cases and five fatalities, taking its total to 737,954 and toll to 15,959, respectively. Active cases in Mumbai stood at 4,501. In the past 24 hours, the state tested 179,402 samples, and had a positivity rate of 3.12%. Positivity rate is the percentage of tests returning positive out of the total tests done for an infection.
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“The SOP to reopen malls and allow restaurants and eateries to operate till 10pm is being prepared. The task force said mall employees, workers in the shops have to be double vaccinated. A mechanism on who will be allowed inside malls is being worked out. The chief minister will take a call once the SOP is submitted,” an official said, requesting anonymity. Task force chief Dr Sanjay Oak refused to comment on the development.
Mumbai and Mumbai Metropolitan Region collectively added 707 new cases and reported 19 deaths. A chunk of infections on Tuesday were reported from Ahmednagar, Pune, Solapur, Satara, Kolhapur, Sangli Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri districts. Collectively, the eight districts and urban (municipal corporation) areas added 4,326 fresh cases and 97 fatalities. These areas contributed 77.12% of the total cases and 70.8% of the fatalities reported on Tuesday.
