Mumbai: With Covid cases on the decline, the Maharashtra government will soon relax the prevailing restrictions, said Public Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Thursday. “The number of coronavirus cases is declining day by day. Therefore, theatres, cinemas, hotels, bars and restaurants may start at full capacity in the last week of February or early March.”
Tope said, at this point, there would be no need to impose more curbs in the coming days. However, he said, there was no proposal under the state government’s consideration for a ‘mask-free’ state, as yet. “The wearing of masks is mandatory. The government will study the mask-free decision by the UK and other countries. We are compiling information in this context. In such a populous country, we do not want to create any crisis by immediately lifting the mask mandate. However, restrictions will be relaxed,” he noted.
Tope said the state government would seek the opinion of the Covid taskforce before taking any decision on making the state mask-free.
Commenting on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement that corona had spread across the country after migrants in Mumbai were dispatched in trains to UP and Bihar, he said, “Every state has worked efficiently during the corona period. The chief minister and the deputy chief minister emptied the state coffers for the implementation of corona containment measures. Many leading institutions have hailed the state government’s work. We have done our best,’’ he noted.
Tope said the government had strengthened the health infrastructure during the pandemic and would continue to do so in the future, too. “The government will upgrade rural and semi-rural hospitals while at the tehsil levels, the government will make available medical facilities including CT scans, MRI and sonography. The government’s focus is to put in place health services close to homes,” he added.
On Thursday, 6,248 new cases, including 121 Omicron cases were reported in the state. There are 70,150 active Covid cases and 3,455 Omicron cases, of which 2,291 have been discharged after negative RT-PCR test reports. The positivity rate in 23 districts in the state continues to be higher than the weekly average of 9.30 per cent.
Tope’s statement comes days after Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar hinted that the state capital would be unlocked by the end of this month and underlined the need for resumption of all activities.
