No new case of UK variant of coronavirus in Maharashtra: Rajesh Tope

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Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Tuesday said there has been no new case of the UK variant of coronavirus in the state, after a spurt in such cases in the last couple of months.

Talking to reporters here, Tope said people need to avoid crowding in public places, and the demand for relaxing the timings of local trains for the general public in Mumbai will be discussed in the state cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

He said some weeks back, the state government had identified cases of the UK variant of COVID-19, but all the infected persons were tracked and treated properly. "They were kept under strict institutional quarantine. Since then, no new case (of the UK variant of COVID-19) has been found in the state," the minister said.

To a question on the demand for relaxing the local train timings for the general public, Tope said preventing crowds at stations is still the priority.

At present, the general public is allowed to travel in the suburban trains from the time of start of services for the day till 7 am, from 12 noon to 4 pm, and from 9 pm till the closure of services for the day.

From 7 am to 12 noon and from 4 pm to 9 pm, only employees of the essential services and categories of commuters specified by the Maharashtra government and the Ministry of Railways are permitted to travel in local trains.

Tope said, "We need to avoid crowding at public places to control the spread of the virus."

However, this issue (of relaxing local train timings) is going to be discussed with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray during the cabinet meeting scheduled on Wednesday, he said.

"We will assess all aspects of the issue and take an appropriate decision," he added.

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