Mumbai police on Friday issued an order prohibiting people from visiting beaches, open grounds, sea faces, promenades, gardens, parks or similar public places between 5pm and 5am till January 15 in view of the rising Covid cases and the emergence of the highly contagious omicron variant.

DCP (operations) S. Chaitanya issued the order under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which came into force from 1pm on Friday and will be effective till January 15, unless withdrawn earlier.

“The city continues to be threatened with the Covid-19 pandemic. In light of the increase in cases and the emergence of the new omicron variant, and with a view to prevent danger to human life, health and safety and to curb transmission of the virus, people are prohibited from visiting beaches, open grounds, sea faces, promenades, gardens, parks or similar public places from 5pm to 5am next day,” the order said.

In case of marriages, whether in enclosed or open spaces, the maximum number of attendees shall be restricted to 50, the order said.

“In case of any gathering or programme, whether social, cultural, political or religious, whether in enclosed or open to sky spaces, the maximum number of attendees shall be restricted to 50 persons,” it added.

Only 20 people will be allowed at funerals.

Those flouting the order will attract punishment under Section 188 of the IPC, in addition to provisions of the Epidemic Diseases Act and the National Disaster Management Act, the DCP said in the order.

The city police’s directive came after the Maharashtra government issued fresh guidelines on Thursday night capping the number of attendees at gatherings in open and closed spaces at 50, following another surge in coronavirus cases in the state.

Earlier, not more than 100 people in enclosed spaces and 250 people in open spaces were allowed to attend a marriage or a social, cultural, political or religious gathering.

Maharashtra on Thursday recorded 5,368 coronavirus cases, a spike of 1,468 infections from a day before. This propelled the state’s Covid-19 tally to 66,70,754. The state reported 198 new cases of the omicron variant, including 190 in Mumbai alone, taking the tally of cases of this new variant in Maharashtra to 450.