A weekend lockdown has been announced in Maharashtra to contain the fresh wave of coronavirus infections, news agency PTI reported quoting state minister Nawab Malik.
Along with that, Maharashtra Minister Aslam Shaikh also announced a night curfew from 8 pm to 7 am. During this period only essential services will be permitted.
“Restaurants are permitted only for take away and parcel services. For offices, employees will have to work from home. Detailed SOP will be released soon,” Aslam Shaikh said.
The state reported nearly 50,000 cases on Saturday.
Earlier during the day, Uddhav Thackeray led a cabinet meeting though video-conference to discuss the coronavirus situation in the state.
State capital Mumbai on Saturday reported over 9,000 cases for the first time since the pandemic began last year. Around 681 buildings in the city have been sealed. Maharashtra alone accounts for more than half of the total active caseload of the country, according to the data with health ministry.
Pune, which is seeing an alarming spike in cases is already under a 12-hour night curfew, shutting down malls, religious places, and hotels for a week.
Yesterday, Varsha Gaikwad announced that all board students from classes 1 to 8 will be promoted without the examinations in view of the current coronavirus situation.
In a brief video message, the Maharashtra’s education minister said that decision regarding students of class 9 and 11 will soon be taken.
Thackeray, who chaired a meeting on Friday with bureaucrats, painted a grim picture of the Covid-19 situation. The Maharashtra chief minister had warned of a lockdown if the situation did not improve.
He urged rival political parties and critics to come forward and help frontline workers and assist the state in mobilising extra doctors.
Dear Reader,
Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.
As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.
Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.
Digital Editor
Discover more from PressNewsAgency
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.