Weekend lockdown and Night curfew imposed on Maharashtra

On Sunday, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray post a cabinet meeting declared new restrictions named ‘Break the Chain’ for a complete lockdown on weekends from 8 pm on Friday to 7 am on Monday in addition to a night curfew on weekdays.

Post the cabinet meeting, Ajit Pawar said, “The entire state had opposed a complete lockdown, but health experts cautioned us about the increasing number of Covid cases.”

The state government informed that gathering of five or more people will be banned during daytime. Functions of political, religious, social and cultural nature will not be entertained.

Furthermore, schools, college and private classes would remain closed except for conduction of Board exams. Religious institutions and places of worship will also be closed off.

Banking, telecommunication, insurance and government offices will be exempted from the lockdown restrictions. NCP leader, Nawab Malik said, “Government and semi-government offices will run with 50 percent capacity while private offices will have to go for work from home.”

The notification informed that essential services and shops such as those of grocery and chemist will be allowed to remain open, but the rest will be shut down till the end of April. It also notified that take outs and home deliveries will be the only services permitted for restaurants.

Malls, bars, pubs, barbershops, salons and spas will be shut down for the remainder of the month.

Film theatres, multiplexes, gyms, swimming pools, auditoriums will not be allowed to function.

E-commerce deliveries will be permitted only between 7 am and 8pm only when the delivery staff is vaccinated, even newspaper sellers are supposed to be vaccinated according to the notification.

Travelling in public and private transport will be allowed, given that the person has a valid reason for leaving their house. Buses, trains, autorickshaws and taxis will be allowed to operate at half their capacities.

For the economy to not get decimated, construction sites and industrial units are being allowed to function, as are film production.

The state of Maharashtra is the worst hit by Covid-19 in India; it figures for 58.19 percent of cases in India. The state shows a huge surge in new positive cases with 49,447 cases and 277 casualties being registered on Saturday alone.