Mantralaya restricts entry, mulls shutdown amid Covid-19 outbreak

As a precaution against the spread of Covid-19, the state government has decided to restrict political activities to avoid crowds and may consider shutting down

As a precaution against the spread of Covid-19, the state government has decided to restrict political activities to avoid crowds and may consider shutting down government offices for a few days. It has also decided to restrict entry of visitors to the state secretariat, Mantralaya.

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“The daily entry passes have been suspended, while entry to employees coming to Mantralaya from the district offices has been prohibited. Offices of the ministers and secretaries have been directed to restrict their recommendations to 10 and five for entry to Mantralaya,” said a home department official.

State government employees’ unions have demanded shutting down offices as a precaution after a couple of staffers at Mantralaya showed symptoms associated with the novel coronavirus.

The two employees were sent for the coronavirus test at Kasturba Hospital. The brother of one of the employees had visited a coronavirus-affected country and other government staffers were fearful of contracting the virus.

Following this, the employees’ unions immediately wrote to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray demanding a shutdown of government offices.

During the review meeting convened by the CM on Monday, the government considered a partial or total shutdown of the offices to contain the spread of coronavirus. The CM reportedly deferred the decision, saying it would be reviewed later.

While announcing that there would be no political rallies or meetings, the state government directed the guardian ministers to closely observe the situation in their respective districts and hold meetings at the collectorates to take stock of the situation.

The state election commission (SEC) is expected to announce the postponement of elections to 1,570 gram panchayats scheduled for March 29, and the polls to the Navi Mumbai and Aurangabad municipal corporations scheduled to be held next month.

The government has requested the SEC to postpone the elections by three months. Raj Bhavan, the official residence of the Governor, has suspended morning visits to the sunrise point and yoga gallery, till further notice.