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Updated June 5th, 2021 at 07:49 IST

Maharashtra unveils 5-level unlock plan; here's what's allowed & what's closed from June 7

The Maharashtra government unveiled a comprehensive 5-level unlock plan which is based on weekly COVID-19 case positivity rate and oxygen beds occupancy.

Reported by: Akhil Oka
Maharashtra, COVID guidelines
Image: Twitter/PTI | Image:self
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On Friday night, the Maharashtra government unveiled a comprehensive 5-level unlock plan which is based on weekly COVID-19 case positivity rate and oxygen beds occupancy. To begin with, Municipal Corporations of Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Nashik, Pimpri Chinchwad, Aurangabad, Vasai-Virar, Navi Mumbai, Nagpur, Solapur and Kalyan-Dombivali will be treated as separate administrative units. The remaining area of each of the 34 districts other than the Mumbai City and Mumbai Suburban district shall form a separate single administrative unit.

Each administrative unit will have restrictions as per this criteria: 

Level 1- Case positivity rate is less than 5% & Oxygen beds occupancy is less than 25%

Level 2- Case positivity rate is less than 5% & Oxygen beds occupancy is between 25% and 40%

Level 3- Case positivity rate is between 5% and 10% or Oxygen beds occupancy is more than 40%

Level 4- Case positivity rate is between 10% and 20% or Oxygen beds occupancy is more than 60%

Level 5- Case positivity rate is more than 20% or Oxygen beds occupancy is more than 75%

Here are the new COVID-19 guidelines: 

Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government has clarified that all passengers in a vehicle will require individual e-passes while travelling in Level 5. While government offices and emergency services required for COVID-19 management will function at 100% strength, other government offices can have higher attendance than indicated in the aforesaid table with the permission of respective Disaster Management Authorities. No fresh guidelines have been issued for inter-state travel.

While the above guidelines shall be implemented from Monday, June 7, the restrictions in every administrative unit can potentially change every Monday depending on the case positivity rate and oxygen beds occupancy data to be released by the Public Health Department on Thursday in the week before. The District Disaster Management Authorities shall have the power to make minor modifications in the unlock guidelines to meet local exigencies with the concurrence of the State Disaster Management Authority. At present, there are 2,07,813 active novel coronavirus cases in Maharashtra while 54,86,206 patients have been discharged while 97394 deaths have been reported. 

Restrictions will change for Maharashtra based on 'oxygen trigger' 

However, there is another caveat as the MVA government has fixed a well-quantified oxygen trigger. This implies the restrictions in the entire state will be kept at a certain level based on the fact that the daily oxygen production capacity is 1200 MT whereas it can support a maximum of 60,000 COVID-19 patients at present. Considering that medical oxygen is the most critical resource for novel coronavirus treatment, the restrictions might be increased to ensure that the number of patients requiring O2 does not overwhelm the available oxygen supply. 

  • If more than 45,000 beds are occupied in the entire state with a rising trend of oxygen beds occupancy or if over 50,000 beds are occupied irrespective of the trend of oxygen beds occupancy, no part of the state will have restrictions lower than those prescribed in Level 4
  • If 35,000-45,000 beds are occupied in the entire state irrespective of the trend of oxygen beds occupancy or if 45,000-50,000 beds are occupied with a decreasing oxygen beds occupancy, no part of the state will have restrictions lower than those prescribed in Level 3
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Published June 5th, 2021 at 07:49 IST

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