Shops selling essential commodities can operate 24x7; two more people die in city
MUMBAI: Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday announced that shops selling essential supplies and medical stores can operate 24x7, a move to reduce the crowding around these places that goes against the purpose of the 21-day nationwide lockdown to arrest the spread of the coronavirus. Thursday was the second day of the lockdown.
As Thackeray and his colleagues held marathon meetings to take stock of the situation, eight more people — three from Sangli, one each from Mumbai, Sindhudurg, Nagpur, Kolhapur and Pune — tested positive for the coronavirus, taking the total number of infected people in the state to 130. Two 65-year-old women, who were diagnosed with the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), died between Tuesday and Thursday, taking the death toll in the state and Mumbai to five. While the Brihanmumbai
Municipal Corporation (BMC) said there were nine new cases in Mumbai on Thursday, the state’s figures had not yet accounted for eight cases in its break-up.
Government officials said the move to keep shops selling essential commodities open round-theclock came after a series of meetings held by Thackeray, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and chief secretary Ajoy Mehta. Besides pressing for effective treatment, availability of healthcare infrastructure, the state government also emphasised on the need for essential commodities to be made available to people.
Shop owners will have to adhere to social-distancing measures, officials said. Several shops in Mumbai and other parts of the state have painted boxes/circles at a distance of three feet for customers.