Maharashtra govt issues new COVID guidelines; temples, malls, shops, private offices shut

After imposing weekend lockdown across Maharashtra, the state government released `Break the Chain’ guidelines on Sunday to tackle COVID-19 surge across the state. The guidelines which will come in force from 5 April, 8 PM will remain in force till 30 April. While night curfew has been imposed from 8 PM to 7 AM, section 144 has been imposed across the state from 7 AM to 8 PM as Maharashtra reported  57,074 new COVID cases in the past 24 hours while only 1,07,439 people were vaccinated. The state has urged all citizens to get vaccinated as per GOI's criteria at the earliest.

Here are 'Break the Chain' guidelines:

• Section 144 to be imposed in the state during daytime between 7 AM and 8 PM
• Night curfew between 8 PM and 7 AM
• Essential services including Hospitals, diagnostic centers, Clinics, Medical insurance offices, Pharmacies,
• Pharmaceutical companies, other medical and health services, Groceries, Vegetables Shops, dairies, bakeries, confectionaries, food shops, Trains, Taxis, Autos and public buses, offices of Diplomats of various countries, alll Public Services by local authorities, Transport of Goods, agriculture related services, e-Commerce, accredited media are exempt from movement restrictions
• Gardens, Chowpatys and seashores would be closed down completely between 8 PM and 7 AM
• Only ssential services shops like grocery, pharmaceutical shops, vegetable shops would be open. Shop owners and workers in essential commodities and emergency shops need to ensure their vaccination as per GOI criteria
• Other shops, malls, market places would be closed down till April 30th 2021
• All kind of transport would remain functional. In auto-rickshaws one driver and two passengers are allowed and in taxis, 50 per cent capacity
• Bus drivers, conductors and other staff needs to complete their vaccination as per GOI criteria and need to carry Corona negative certification with them
• Private offices must implement work from home except for offices like Banks, Stock Market, Insurance, Medical shops, Mediclaim related offices, telecom offices as well as local disaster management offices, power utilities, water supply offices would function uninterrupted.
• Government offices to work with 50 percent staff
• Entertainment places like cine-plex, theatres, Amusement Parks/ Arcades/ Video Game Parlours, water parks, gyms, auditoriums, clubs, swimming pools, sports complexes to be closed. All saloons, beauty parlours and Spa would remain closed and the staff at these places need to get vaccinated as per GOI criteria
• All religious places shut for devotees except its staff
• Restaurants and Bars to be totally closed down with take away service open between 7 AM and 8 PM
• Street hawkers will be allowed to do their business between 7 AM and 8 PM
• E-commerce service to remain open but company must ensure vaccination of staff giving home delivery as per GOI criteria
• Newspapers printing and distribution to remain uninterrupted but hawkers and news paper vendors need to get vaccinated as per GOI criteria
• Industries and manufacturing sector will function uninterrupted 
• Film shooting can continue but shooting which includes crowd shots should not be taken and staff must carry COVID-ve certificate
• Construction workers are required to stay at construction sites, but any worker if infected with Covid-19 can’t be removed from the job. Contractor must give them sick-leave and full day wages
• Schools, colleges would remain closed with an exception of examinations of 10th and 12th. Private coaching classes would remain closed down. All staff are advised to get vaccinated as per GOI criteria
• If more than five patients are found, the building or society would be declared a containment zone.
• All social/political/religious gatherings are banned, weddings capped at 50 people and funerals at 20 people

Maharashtra's second wave

With the second wave of COVID infections, Maharashtra has peaked seeing a record number of COVID-19 cases and deaths every day. On Friday night, CM had said that he could not rule lockdowns as people had become complacent. Explaining the shortage in beds and fatigue faced by frontline workers, he said that strict restrictions were necessitated. He added that there could be a shortage of healthcare infrastructure if the COVID-19 situation deteriorates. While vaccination has picked up, Maharashtra's test positivity has climbed over 5% with state government aiming 2.5 lakh RT-PCR tests daily.