'Food delivery boys won't face difficulty in carrying out duties': Maha HM Anil Deshmukh

After several incidents of food delivery men not being able to carry out their duties emerged amid 21-day lockdown across the country, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Thursday assured people that these men will not face any difficulty in delivering food.

'I assure that the food delivery boys....'

"There would be no restriction on the timings of essential service shops. I assure that the food delivery boys will face no difficulty in carrying out their duties," said Deshmukh. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday ordered to keep shops dealing in essential commodities open day and night.

Coronavirus claims 5 lives in Maharashtra

A 65-year-old woman who had tested positive for Coronavirus died at a hospital in Mumbai on Thursday evening, taking the number of deaths due to the virus in Maharashtra to five, officials said. The woman died at civic-run Kasturba Hospital, said the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

She was also suffering from diabetes and hypertension, the BMC statement said. In the morning, health officials had informed that the test report of a woman from Navi Mumbai who had died on March 24 came out positive for Coronavirus.

READ | '2+1 persons in taxis, 1+1 in autos': Maharashtra's Coronavirus lockdown transport rules

READ | 11,000 prisoners in Maharashtra to get parole: Minister

Of the five persons who have died in the state so far, three were from Mumbai and two from the peripheral Mumbai Metropolitan Region. The woman who died on Thursday evening had been admitted to the Kasturba Hospital on March 23 after she complained of breathlessness. The number of Coronavirus cases in Maharashtra increased to 130 on Thursday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced a 21-day lockdown in the entire country effective from midnight to deal with the spread of Coronavirus, saying that "social distancing" is the only option to deal with the disease. According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the total number of confirmed positive COVID-19 cases on Thursday surged to 694 in the country, including 633 active cases. There have been 16 deaths due to the deadly virus.

READ | Maha CM Uddhav Thackeray holds review meeting, practices social distancing amid lockdown

READ | Maha CM announces essentials, medicines to be available 24X7 amid pan-India lockdown

(With agency inputs)