Mumbai Covid-19 spike: Local authorities can impose restrictions, lockdown

As daily infections in Maharashtra are on the rise, new restrictions, including partial lockdown in Mumbai, can not be ruled out, minister Aslam Shaikh said.

Mumbai's guardian minister Aslam Shaikh on Tuesday said that a lockdown or a partial lockdown in Mumbai is not being ruled out completely at this moment as Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has asked local authorities to do whatever necessary to contain the spread of Covid-19 infections in the city. The restrictive measures can be a partial lockdown or night curfew or a complete lockdown, or just amping up testing etc., the minister said. But the decision will be entirely of the local administration.

A health worker wearing PPE kit sanitises a luggage of a passenger at Dadar station in Mumbai. (Bhushan Koyande/ HT Photo) (HT_PRINT)

"In Mumbai, cases are a bit higher. The Chief Minister has instructed all administration officers to take a decision on whatever is necessary; be it imposing a partial lockdown, increasing testing, or go for a complete lockdown," Shaikh said.

All districts of Maharashtra are seeing an uptick in the number of daily infections since mid-February. Starting from the Vidarbha region, the spike has spread to Marathwada and now Mumbai, as well. For the last six days, Mumbai has been reporting over 1,000 new cases daily.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, at this moment, is concentrating more on tightening surveillance. Residential buildings with more than five active Covid-19 patients are being sealed; nightclubs, wedding venues are on the radar; marshals are penalising people found without masks or flouting Covid-19 norms.

Authorities were also mulling whether to bring back restrictions on Mumbai local trains, which expanded its services since February 1, just before the spike was noticed. No decision has been taken in this regard.