Second wave: Maharashtra warns of strict lockdown as curbs roll out elsewhere

NEW DELHI: Maharashtra is likely to announce stricter curbs on Wednesday as a number of other states clamped restrictions on the movement and assembly of people, shut shops and popular establishments and imposed night curfews to arrest surging Covid-19 infections across India.

Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope said the cabinet recommended a “strict lockdown” to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray because of a worrisome surge in cases. With 62,097 cases in a single day, the overall tally in the state rose to 3,960,359 with 61,343 fatalities.

“All the cabinet ministers expressed views in favour of a strict lockdown to minimise the spread of Covid-19. Ministers come from all corners of the state, so it also indicates that the entire state needs this measure,” Tope said, adding that Thackeray could make an announcement on Wednesday. A 15-day statewide curfew is underway since April 14 . The cabinet also decided to cancel class 10 state board exams, the minister said.

The state government also directed groceries, vegetable shops and dairies to remain open only for four hours, between 7am and 11am, and banned home delivery after 8 pm till May 1.

Other states also tightened norms. Uttar Pradesh ordered a weekend curfew between 8pm on Friday and 7am on Monday, Jharkhand imposed restrictions from April 22 to 29, Telangana announced a night curfew, Jammu and Kashmir extended existing night curbs to more districts, and Karnataka closed down most commercial establishments and clamped a weekend curfew. In Jharkhand, chief minister Hemant Soren announced a weeklong lockdown from April 22 to check the spread of the virus. The decision to shut most of establishments from April 22 to 29 was taken at a high-level meeting on Tuesday.

Soren said the period will be observed as “Swasthya Surakasha Saptah (healthy safety week)” and urged citizens not to step out until absolutely necessary. “It has become necessary to break the chain of soaring infection of coronavirus in the state. So, we have taken some important decisions in this regard. I hope we will be successful in breaking the chain of the virus through ‘Swasthya Surakasha Saptah’,” he said.

A curfew under section 144 of CrPC will also be in force during the lockdown to prevent gathering of more than five persons at a public place.

In Jammu and Kashmir, the ongoing night curfew in eight districts was extended to all municipal and urban local body limits. “The night curfew shall be extended to all municipal and urban local body limits of all 20 districts of Jammu and Kashmir. It was already in force in eight districts earlier, from 10pm to 6am,” the lieutenant governor’s office announced on Twitter. Public transport would be allowed to operate with only 50% of its seating capacity.

Telangana announced a night curfew in the state from 9pm to 5am with immediate effect till April 30. All essential services will be exempted. In Chennai, the municipal corporation decided to reimplement several measures that proved to be successful last year.

In the northeast, a seven-day lockdown came into force from Tuesday in Aizawl and 10 other district headquarters of Mizoram to contain the spread of Covid-19. The Karnataka government imposed a night curfew from April 21 to May 4, from 9pm to 6am.

All the cabinet ministers expressed views in favour of a strict lockdown in state RAJESH TOPE, Maharashtra health minister