Mumbai night curfew may begin from 10-11 PM, only essential services to be allowed: Mayor

Detailing on the restrictions announced by the Maharashtra CM in view of the surge in COVID-19 cases, Mumbai mayor Kishori Pednekar has stated that the night curfew in the city might begin from 10 or 11 PM on March 28. This comes a day after CM Uddhav Thackeray announced the imposition of the night curfew across the state following a review meeting of the Coronavirus situation in the state. Pednekar has also announced that residential societies that report five or more cases in Mumbai will be sealed by the BMC. 

Apart from this, the Mumbai mayor stated that hotels and pubs will cease to operate during hours of the night curfew, adding that only essential services will be allowed during the curfew hours. Pednekar also noted that a higher positivity rate is being reported from high-rises as compared to slums and chawls in the city. 

Maha CM announces slew of restrictions

Announcing a night curfew across the state from March 28 onwards, CM Thackeray asserted that the COVID-19 threat has increased and directed all districts to focus on the availability of health facilities, beds and medicines. While Thackeray stressed that he has no intention of imposing a statewide lockdown, he empowered the District Collectors to impose it in districts where the number of patients is increasing rapidly.

Moreover, he warned that stricter restrictions will have to be imposed in the future if people do not follow COVID-19 prevention norms. Revealing that shopping malls shall remain closed from 8 pm to 7 am as per the new rules, the CM ordered action to be taken against establishments flouting SOPs. On this occasion, Medical Education Minister Amit Deshmukh called upon the Centre to make the COVID-19 vaccines available in large numbers to the state. He also stressed that the vaccination of teachers, professors and those working in the public transport system should be done on a priority basis. 

COVID-19 crisis in Mumbai 

Mumbai logged 5,504 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, crossing the 5000 mark for the second day in a row. The doubling rate of cases in India's financial capital now stands at 75 days after the recent flux in the number of infections. India's overall case load stands at 1.18 crore, the third-highest behind the United States and Brazil. The country reported 251 new deaths, taking the overall tally to 1,60,692, data showed.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to increase their daily number of Covid-19 tests to 60,000 tests, the civic authorities said in a press release on Thursday as the number of daily infections in the city is on a steady rise. Citing vaccination as the “ultimate remedy” for Covid-19, BMC said that the number of daily vaccinations in Mumbai has been raised to 1 lakh.