Mumbai Police issues new COVID curbs; prohibits visiting beaches, parks & public places

Issuing a fresh set of guidelines amid rise in COVID-19 cases in the city, Mumbai police has now asked people to avoid visiting public places at night. According to the latest order, police has asked the public not to visit beaches, open grounds, sea faces, promenades, gardens, parks and similar public places between 5pm to 5am. The order also mentions restrictions on all social gatherings including marriages, funerals, political or religious events.

Earlier an alarm was sounded in Mumbai after the city reported a sharp increase in daily COVID-19 cases with a steep rise in Omicron infections. In a revised order late on Thursday night, the Maharashtra government announced fresh curbs on attendance at weddings, social, political, religious events and funerals. Following the order, the Mumbai police has now issued guidelines to curb the further spread of COVID-19 in the city.

Issuing fresh guidelines ahead of the new year, the Mumbai police has now prohibited all individuals from visiting beaches, open grounds, sea faces, promenades, gardens, parks and similar public places between 5pm to 5am daily. Furthermore, it also informed that restrictions have been placed on all social gatherings. "In case of marriages or any other social, political or religious event, the maximum number of attendees shall be restricted to 50 persons. The maximum number of attendees is restricted to 20 in funerals," the order read.

"In any other part of the state which are tourist spots that attract a large crowd of people such as beaches, open grounds, etc, the competent authority may as deemed appropriate, impose section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973,” it added. The police also informed that any violators of the new guidelines will be charged with provisions under the Disaster Management Act 2005, Epidemic Disease Act along other relevant sections of law.

Mumbai records 3,555 new COVID-19 cases 

Mumbai reported 3,555  new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, a steep rise from the 2,455 infections it reported a day ago, with 22 deaths. Mumbai also recorded 190 cases of Omicron variant, the highest single-day tally recorded so far by any city in the country.

India's tally of the Omicron variant of COVID crossed 1,000 on Thursday. With the addition of 309 fresh cases in the last 24 hours, the country’s total tally rose to 1,270. The rise in cases of the highly contagious virus variant came on the back of Maharashtra reporting its highest single-day infection with the new strain. Maharashtra reported 198 new cases of the Omicron variant, including 190 in Mumbai as reported by the state health department.

Image: PTI