Covid-19: Maharashtra curbs renewed on gatherings, establishments

Night curfew back, number of people attending weddings and religious programmes in closed spaces capped at 100

With Maharashtra reporting over 1,000 fresh infections for the past three days, the state government on Friday imposed night curfew between 9 pm and 6 am with immediate effect and capped the number of people attending weddings and religious events in closed spaces at 100. The state also said that Mumbaikars flying in from Dubai must undergo home quarantine for seven days.

Worried over a sudden spike in the Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra in the past two days and the transmission of the Omicron variant, the state government imposed new restrictions ahead of the new year celebrations. The implementation of the new order started from Friday midnight itself. Assembly of five or more people at public places have been barred from 9 pm to 6 am. The number of guests in the indoor and outdoor weddings, social, religious and political functions, and other events has been restricted.

A train passenger’s swab sample being collected at LTT, Kurla, on Friday. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

Hotels and restaurants will be under watch for violating the 50 per cent cap on the number of guests they can host.  A day after holding a meeting with the State Covid Task Force, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said in a statement on Friday evening that the people should follow Covid-appropriate behaviour and restrictions.

“Maharashtra had over 2,000 cases in the last two days. Christmas, weddings and new year celebrations will increase the public gatherings, inviting further the risk of virus transmission,” said Thackeray, adding, “The Omicron cases are on the rise in 110 countries. Since the variant is highly transmissible, we thought of imposing preliminary restrictions and reviewing the situation in the coming days before making the guidelines stringent.”

According to the CM, the Centre has also advised the states to be cautious and step up the preventive measures. “We don’t start now, the situation will worsen in the future and we will be back to the stricter, lockdown-like measures,” added Thackeray.

Norms for Dubai returnees

While Mumbaikars coming from Dubai will have to undergo 7-day home quarantine, non-Mumbaikars arriving at Mumbai airport won’t be allowed to use public transport in the city. They will be ferried directly from the airport by district authorities. As per the new norms, travellers who have connecting flights to other states or other parts of Maharashtra will be allowed to board the connecting flights, but airport authorities will have to inform the respective airport officers regarding the travel history of the passengers.

The residents of Mumbai won’t be put through to RT-PCR tests on arrival. They will be monitored by ward war rooms during the mandatory 7-day home quarantine. These fliers will be made to undergo the RT-PCR test on the 7th day. If found negative, the traveller will monitor him/herself for another 7 days. If the test is positive, they will be shifted to the institutional quarantine as per the current guidelines for international travellers.

The new guidelines

>> 100 guests for weddings, where movement of attendees is generally staggered, in enclosed places; in open spaces the number cannot exceed 250 or 25 per cent of the capacity. Similar curbs will be applicable to public events, religious and political functions

>> Other than the above events, indoor places where seating is specific, the attendance cannot be more than 50 per cent of the total capacity; where the indoor capacity is not specific, the maximum limit will be 25 per cent of the total capacity. The open spaces can host only up to 25 per cent of the total capacity.

>> Competitive sports/events can have up to 25 per cent of the seating capacity

>> The attendance for the events that are not defined in the order will be decided by the local authority

>> Hotels, gyms, spas, cinema halls, and theatres can use only 50 per cent seats. They will have to make public their 100 per cent and 50 per cent capacity

>> Local authorities are empowered to impose additional restrictions with a prior public notice

9
Duration in hours of the curfew every night

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