Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray warned of yet another lockdown in Maharashtra if Covid-19 cases continued to spike, even as the state relaxed several curbs such as resumption of local trains for fully vaccinated and extending durations for parks and beaches to be open.
Thackeray, in his Independence Day address on August 15, appealed to people to follow Covid-appropriate behaviour as he reminded them of the limited availability of medical oxygen.
“We are easing restrictions now. Covid has still not been eliminated so we need to be more alert. Considering the limited availability of medical oxygen, if the number of Covid cases see a rise, then we will have no other option but to reimpose the lockdown,” he said.
The state has allowed the general public to board local trains from Sunday, Independence Day, provided they have completed 14 days after getting fully vaccinated. An offline verification procedure for issuing monthly passes to fully inoculated people to enable them to board local trains has already begun at 53 suburban stations in Mumbai. Also, some restrictions have been eased and malls, restaurants, gyms, salons and spas have been allowed to reopen.
On Monday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation announced that all public gardens, playgrounds, chowpatties and beaches in Mumbai will now remain open from 6 am to 10 pm as part of fresh relaxations in COVID-19 restrictions. Earlier, on June 4 this year, the (BMC) had allowed these places to open for the public from 5 am to 9 am.
Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal said that the BMC on Sunday issued fresh guidelines under ‘Break the Chain’ programme, using powers conferred by the Maharashtra government to decide the timings. “Public grounds, gardens, beaches and sea fronts to remain open from 6 am to 10 pm,” Chahal said on Monday.
The state task force on COVID-19 is not in favour of opening schools and colleges from August 17. Thackeray is scheduled to meet members of the task force soon to take a final decision.
The task force had suggested granting more relaxations in restrictions while observing precautions after a meeting. The state government is now preparing new guidelines after receiving various suggestions and instructions from doctors, experts and government departments.
The state government had excluded malls, cinema halls, theatres, religious places and religious gatherings from the purview of relaxations introduced last week.
The government had allowed shops to function till 8 pm in 25 districts, while excluding 11 districts where level-3 restrictions continue to remain in force due to a higher COVID-19 positivity rate. Restaurant owners, malls and other establishments had been demanding that the government extend the current timings. Various artists have also demanded that theatres be allowed to function with restrictions. The government is also under pressure to open religious places.
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