Mumbai: Huge crowd witnessed in Dadar vegetable market amid rising COVI-19 cases

Ahead of the night curfew by Maharashtra government which is to be imposed from tonight, the Dadar vegetable market in Mumbai witnessed a huge crowd of people without any social distancing. It is important to note here that the country is observing the festival of Holi tonight and tomorrow with COVID precautions. The incident comes amid a huge surge in COVID cases in the entire state. 

On Saturday, the Maharashtra government issued strict guidelines under its 'Mission Begin Again' directive, enforcing a curfew from 8 PM to 7 AM throughout the state till April 15. Under the new guidelines, all public places, Cinema halls, malls, auditoriums, and restaurants will remain shut from 8 PM to 7 AM.

Night Curfew Guidelines

• Gathering of 5 or more not allowed from 8 PM to 7 AM effective 27 March midnight. Violation will attract Rs 1000 fine
• All public places (Gardens & Beaches) to remain shut from 8 PM to 7 AM effective 27 March midnight. Violation will attract Rs.1000 fine.
• All Cinema halls, malls, auditoriums, and restaurants to remain shut from 8 PM to 7 AM effective 27 March midnight. Home delivery and takeaway will be allowed. Any violation will attract cinema halls/hotels/restaurants to be closed for a period until the COVID-19 pandemic stays notified as a disaster by the Central govt.
• All social/political/religious gatherings are banned
• Cap of 50 people allowed for weddings & 20 for funerals
• All offices except health & essential capped at 50% capacity
• RT-PCR testing should be scaled up to 70% or more

Maharashtra records the highest positivity rate

Eight states and UTs have a weekly positivity rate of coronavirus infection higher than the national average of 5.04 percent, with Maharashtra recording the highest rate at 22.78 percent, the Union Health Ministry said on Sunday.

Apart from Maharashtra, the other seven states and UTs with a higher positivity rate than the national average are Chandigarh (11.85 percent positivity rate), Punjab (8.45 percent), Goa (7.03 percent), Puducherry (6.85 percent), Chhattisgarh (6.79 percent), Madhya Pradesh (6.65 percent) and Haryana (5.41 percent).

As of Sunday, till 8 am, Maharashtra has recorded 2673461 total active confirmed cases and 54073 deaths. Maharashtra reported 35,726 new positive cases, 14,523 discharges, and 166 deaths on Saturday.

(With ANI Inputs)

(Image: ANI/Pixabay)