The Maharashtra government on Sunday announced a weekend lockdown in the state from 8 pm on Friday to 7 am on Monday in a bid to curb the growing numbers of Covid-19 cases in the state, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi directed central forces to rush to the state.
Apart from the weekend lockdown, strict restrictions will be in force from Monday 8 pm onwards, Minority Affairs Minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik told reporters after the cabinet meeting.
He said that night curfew will continue and prohibitory orders issued under section 144 will be enforced during the day time during the week.
"Apart from the weekend lockdown, strict restrictions will be in force from 8 pm tomorrow, under which shopping malls, bars, restaurants, small shops will be open only for take-aways and parcels. Government offices will be allowed to function only at 50 per cent of their capacity," he said.
Industries and production sector,vegetable markets will function with Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) and construction sites will operate if there is accommodation facility for workers, he added.
Theatres, drama theatres will be shut, while film and television shootings will continue if there is no crowding.
Parks and playgrounds will also be closed, he said.
Religious places will have to follow the SoPs, Malik said, adding that that public transport system will remain functional.
Mumbai city guardian minister Aslam Shaikh told reporters that work from home will be encouraged for offices, except for insurance, mediclaim, electricity and civic offices.
Essential services have been exempted from the existing night curfew, he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also chaired a high-level meeting on Sunday, which noted that the situation in Maharashtra, Punjab and Chhattisgarh is of serious concern while highlighting that the western state has contributed 57 percent of the total cases and 47 percent of deaths in the country in the last 14 days.
Modi said the five-fold strategy of testing, tracing, treatment, Covid-appropriate behaviour and vaccination if implemented with utmost seriousness and commitment would be effective in curbing the pandemic's spread, according to an official statement.
The reasons for the sharp rise in cases could be mainly attributed to the severe decline in compliance of Covid-appropriate behaviour, especially in the use of masks and social distancing, pandemic fatigue and lack of effective implementation of containment measures at the field level, it said.
Modi directed that central teams consisting of public health specialists and clinicians be sent to Maharashtra in view of its high caseload and deaths, and to Punjab and Chhattisgarh as well because of the disproportionate number of deaths there, the statement said.
A special campaign for Covid-appropriate behaviour with emphasis on 100 percent mask usage, personal hygiene and sanitation at public places, workplaces and health facilities will be organised between April 6-14, the statement said.
In the meeting, a brief presentation on the performance of the Covid-19 inoculation drive was also made, and the details of the coverage of vaccination in various groups, performance with respect to other countries and analysis of states' performance were deliberated.