Maha likely to persist with stringent curbs

MUMBAI: Maharashtra is expected to continue with most of the Lockdown 4 restrictions as the number of Covid cases doubled in the state in the past fortnight. Officials said more relaxations can be offered in allowing opening of standalone shops in urban areas.

CM Uddhav Thackeray has indicated that he is not keen to lift curbs in Mumbai, Pune and MMR as Covid-19 cases could spike if restrictions are lifted. The Maharashtra government is expected to issue revised guidelines for the state by Sunday.

An official said that the government is going to provide further restrictions in a “gradual and calibrated manner” but Covid-19 cases are bound to go up as this happens. The official added that the state government is moving “cautiously” and relaxations would be given on the degree of “contact” and “essential” nature of the service.

Maharashtra on Saturday recorded 2,940 new coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases, its second-highest spike in a day so far. With this, the state has also crossed the 65,000 mark, with the case count at 65,168. Of them, 34,881 are active cases, according to the state health department.

On Saturday, 99 deaths, third highest in a day, were reported, taking the toll to 2,197. Of them, 40 deaths were from the past two days, while the rest are from the past 22 days, according to the health department.

Mumbai accounted for 1,510 new cases on Saturday. With this, the city tally reached 38,442 cases, of which 20,845 are active cases.