State prepares for second lockdown, but a different one from last year’s in terms of restrictions, large places prone to crowds to see closure, train and other transport modes to get strict guidelines
Mumbai police seen at a checkpoint during the curfew hours at night near Girgaon Chowpatty. Pic/Bipin Kokate
Expect a second lockdown, albeit much different from last year’s, from the second or the third day of April for a limited period. Sources in the state government said, after receiving orders on Sunday from Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, that the administration has started preparing for the restrictions which would not hamper economic activities like before, but essentially focus on preventing crowding to arrest the spread of COVID-19.
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Thackeray’s directives came at a review meeting on Sunday in which the COVID Task Force projected more deaths if restrictions like lockdown were not imposed. “Since the COVID protocol and guidelines are violated, the administration should prepare for a lockdown and make Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) available,” the CM was quoted as saying in an official statement.
The release added that the CM was told about increasing cases creating a shortfall of beds and other healthcare facilities like ventilators and oxygen. Sources said the places where people gather in large numbers would be shut. Multiplexes, cinema halls, beaches, gardens, auditoriums and malls which are allowed to operate between 7 am and 8 pm will be closed 24x7. Standalone shops will be given time slots to operate. Large markets may operate under strict guidelines.
Sources said restaurants and bars may be asked to curtail dine-in services but be allowed to operate take-away and home-delivery services. Suburban/long-distance trains and public transport buses will be given strict guidelines to follow. Testing at railway stations and airports will be intensified. The manufacturing sector will be allowed to operate at full-scale, but not without adhering to protocols.
Considering the situation that may arise, the CM asked the administration to ensure adequate availability of medicine, healthcare, essential services and civil supplies. It was decided that patients should be kept in institutional quarantine/isolation instead of home quarantine. Oxygen production would be increased and supply chains taken to the places where it is needed; more ventilators would be bought and the number of Intensive Care Units (ICU) increased. Private doctors will be roped in to enhance the trained frontline workforce and comorbid employees will be encouraged to work from home.
State BJP president Chandrakant Patil said a lockdown wasn’t the answer to control the pandemic. “We will oppose it tooth and nail. What will happen to the citizens who have had a miserable year? They don’t have the money or jobs. The government should give financial assistance of Rs 5,000 each to one crore people who are estimated to have been suffering from last year’s lockdown,” he said, adding that the state government didn’t give any financial aid to the people. “One cannot understand people’s problem sitting inside the confines of Matoshree,” said Patil, in an apparent snub to CM Thackeray.
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Duration for which malls, cinemas, public places currently operate
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