Maharashtra announces night curfew till January 5

In view of the new strain of the coronavirus, the Maharashtra govt has announced a slew of new restrictions including a night curfew between 11 pm to 6 am in the state in all municipal corporations from December 22, 2020, to January 5, 2021. Passengers arriving from Europe and the Middle East will also have to undergo a mandatory 15 day institutional quarantine.

Mumbai:Maharashtra Government announces night curfew between 11 pm to 6 am in the state in all municipal corporations from December 22, 2020, to January 5, 2021.

According to Maharashtra government, all passengers coming from Europe and the Middle East will have to mandatorily undergo 15 days institutional quarantine. Passengers coming from other international destinations other than Europe and the Middle East will have to undergo home quarantine.

As per Iqbal Singh Chahal, Commissioner, BMC, no flights to land from UK post 2:30 am tomorrow (Tuesday). Passengers who have boarded flights will undergo institutional quarantine. Asymptomatic people will be quarantined at hotels while symptomatic passengers will be admitted at GT Hospital.

Just minutes after the Civil aviation ministry banned all flights arriving from the United Kingdom from December 22, the ministry issued a circular stating that all passengers arriving from the UK today and tomorrow will have to undergo mandatory RT-PCR test at airports in India.

The circular stated, "As a measure of abundant precaution, passengers arriving from the UK in all transit flights (flights that have taken off or flights which are reaching India before 22nd Dec at 11.59 pm) should be subject to mandatory RT-PCR test on arrival at airports."

The circular also mentions that considering the prevailing situation in the UK, the Indian government has decided that all flights originating from the UK to India shall be temporarily suspended till 11:59 pm, December 31.

Airlines operating flights to/from India from other countries shall not board any passenger from the UK to India and shall ensure that no passenger coming from the UK is boarded in the flight for any destination in India either directly or indirectly.

Earlier in the day, Union Minister of Civil Aviation, Hardeep Singh Puri, tweeted, "We have decided to take all necessary precautions as a result of the situation arising out of the spread of a new strain of coronavirus in some countries. All flights originating from UK into India will be suspended temporarily from 22 Dec to 31 Dec 2020."

"Those found positive on arrival should be sent for institutional quarantine set up by state/UT governments, in collaboration with the states/UTs concerned. Those found negative should be advised to isolate at home for 7 days and will be medically monitored by the States/UTs", the tweet added.

Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Monday reassured the people of the country that the Central government is alert about the new coronavirus strain emerging from the United Kingdom, adding that there is no need to panic.

ANI