Night curfew in Maharashtra from next Sunday

Mumbai: Taking cognizance of the rising number of corona cases in the state, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said a night curfew will be imposed in the state from Sunday night (March 28).

Thackeray said the government has also decided to implement strict measures to arrest the growing infection and has instructed health authorities to implement Covid protocols effectively. He said that separate orders in this regard will be issued by the Relief and Rehabilitation Department on Friday. 

He interacted with all the Divisional Commissioners, Collectors, Municipal Commissioners, Superintendents of Police, Civil Surgeons of District Government Hospitals, District and State Task Force members, and superintendents of medical colleges to take stock of the current situation in the State.

Health Minister Rajesh Tope, Medical Education Minister Amit Deshmukh, Former Minister Dr Deepak Sawant, Chief Secretary Sitaram Kunte, Additional Chief Secretary to the Chief Minister Ashish Kumar Singh, Additional Chief Secretary of Home Department Manukumar Srivastava, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Vikas Kharge, Principal Secretary of Health Department Pradeep Vyas, Medical Education Secretary Saurabh Vijay Chief Minister's Secretary Abasaheb Jarhad, Relief and Rehabilitation Secretary Asim Gupta, Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal, Medical Education Director Tatyarao Lahane along with other senior officials were also present at the meeting called by Thackeray at his official residence 'Varsha'.

"I have no intention of imposing a lockdown, but given the growing number of patients, the health facilities that we have set up on a large scale across the state will also be reduced," the chief minister said, adding that he has directed officials in each district to focus on the availability of health facilities, beds and medicines and the need to increase them.

The public needs to realize that the threat has not gone away, on the contrary, it has increased, Uddhav Thackeray said, adding that the number of patients is increasing rapidly, and it is not possible to say how much more it will increase in the coming period. In such a case, there is a need to consider strict measures.

The chief minister has instructed district collectors to implement lockdown if there is a need in the districts where the number of patients is increasing rapidly. However, Thackeray has asked authorities to not implement lockdown without issuing notice. He also appealed to the people to follow the rules. "Stricter restrictions will have to be imposed in the near future if rules are not followed," Thackeray said.

The state government has also issued guidelines to private establishments regarding changes in attendance of their employees as well as office hours. They should be closely monitored to see if they are complying and strict action should be taken against them if the SOPs imposed on them in crowded places like malls, bars, hotels, cinemas are not implemented.

The Chief Minister also instructed that malls be closed from 8 pm to 7 am, to ensure there would be no crowds, and to observe restrictions on socio-political and cultural events.

Speaking about the vaccination, the chief minister said drive should be implemented more effectively and asked task force members to guide the district administration from time to time regarding the latest drug treatment methods.