Civil Aviation Ministry allows Maharashtra to operate 100 flights daily amid COVID crisis

The Ministry of Civil Aviation on Monday, June 15, permitted Maharashtra to operate 100 fights every day. Initially, the Maha Vikas Aghadi government had given the green signal to operate only 50 flights- 25 arrivals and departures each when the domestic passenger air operations had re-commenced from May 25 onwards. This decision comes even as 3,390 novel coronavirus cases were reported in Maharashtra on June 14 propelling the state's COVID-19 tally to 1,07,958. 

Read: Coronavirus Live Updates: India's Tally At 3,32,424; Recovery Rate Improves To 51.08%

1428 domestic flights operated so far

Meanwhile, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri stated that domestic operations were registering steady growth since restarting operations. He mentioned that 1,45,022 passengers travelled to different parts of the country via 1428 flights (714 arrivals and departures each) till 23.59 hours on June 14. He added that 3069 Indian citizens had been repatriated from Lagos, Toronto, Chicago, Dammam, Doha, Jeddah, Singapore, Bahrain, Kuwait and Muscat on June 13 under the aegis of the Vande Bharat Mission. According to Puri, Vistara airlines joined hands with Air India Express and Air India for this initiative. 

47.2% of COVID-19 patients in Maharashtra recover

At present, there are 53,017 active cases in the state. With 1,632 COVID-19 patients discharged in the day, the number of recovered soared to 50,978. 120 deaths were reported on Sunday. 80 of the deceased had high-risk co-morbidities such as diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, etc. Until now, a total of 3950 persons have died owing to COVID-19. So far, 6,57,739 samples have been tested for the novel coronavirus in 55 government labs and 42 private labs operational across the state. While 5,87,596 persons are under home quarantine, 29,641 others have been admitted to institutional quarantine centres. The COVID-19 recovery rate and fatality rate in Maharashtra stand at 47.2% and 3.65% respectively. 

Earlier in the day, CM Uddhav Thackeray gave the green signal to schools for starting the academic year from June 15 via the digital platform on a pilot project basis amid the COVID-19 crisis. He also agreed to the physical reopening of schools situated in non-urban areas that are free from COVID-19 cases. This decision was taken in a virtual meeting with School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad and other officials. 

Read: Vande Bharat Mission: Air India To Operate 10 Additional Flights Between India And USA