Covid-19 second wave: Essential services to continue as Maharashtra begins Janata curfew tonight

The Maharashtra government announced that cinema halls, amusement parks, gyms, schools, colleges, places of worship, among others will remain closed
Uddhav Thackery
Uddhav ThackeryTwitter: @micnewdelhi

Intro: The Maharashtra govt informed that cinema halls, theatres, auditoriums, amusement parks, gyms, sports complexes, schools, colleges, places of worship, among others will remain closed

On Tuesday evening, the Maharashtra government announced the imposition of ‘Janata curfew’ to fight Covid-19. The curfew will come into effect from 8 pm tonight and will be in effect till 7 am on May 1.

In his address to the people of Maharashtra, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray announced that the government is imposing strict restrictions but stopped short of announcing a lockdown. “We are imposing strict restrictions which will come into effect from 8 pm on Wednesday. Section 144 to be imposed in the entire state from Wednesday. I will not term this as a lockdown,” he said.

The Maharashtra CM said that while the state is in a curfew, certain essential services will be excluded from these restrictions. “Local train and bus services will ply for essential services only. Petrol pumps, financial institutions associated with SEBI and construction work can continue. Hotels and restaurants should remain closed and only take-away, home deliveries should be allowed,” Thackeray said.

The Maharashtra government said that cinema halls, theatres, auditoriums, amusement parks, gyms, sports complexes should remain shut. The government has also said shooting for films, serial and ads should be stopped immediately. All shops, malls and shopping centres not performing essential services will remain shut.

Also, all worship places, schools, colleges, private coaching, barbershops, spas, salons and beauty parlours will stay closed during the ‘Janata curfew’.

Thackeray informed that the state is facing problems in healthcare infrastructure due to a high number of cases. “We are continuously upgrading our healthcare infrastructure but they are under pressure. There is a shortage of medical oxygen, beds and the demand for Remdesivir has also increased,” he said, requesting the opposition parties and civil societies to help the state bring the Covid-19 situation under control.

With the second wave, oxygen supply has become a major problem in the state and the Maharashtra CM has said that he will bring it up with the Centre. “I will speak to the Prime Minister and request him to provide us Indian Air Force assistance to supply oxygen for medical use from nearby states,” Thackeray said.

Private hospitals in Pune are also facing oxygen supply problems. According to a leading news agency, the demand for medical oxygen supply has increased around 3.5 times. Suppliers in Pune are finding it difficult to procure oxygen from manufacturers due to this mass increase in demand.

The Union Health Ministry on Wednesday announced that India has reported 1,84,372 new Covid-19 cases, 82,339 recoveries and 1,027 deaths in the last 24 hours.

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