The state government on Thursday announced that the Mumbai Metropolitan Region that comprises Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane and the region between Mira Road and Virar will have the lockdown extended till May 31.
In all, Maharashtra has 36 districts of which 14 are in red zone. These include
- Mumbai
- Mumbai Suburban
- Pune
- Thane
- Nashik
- Palghar
- Solapur
- Yavatmal
- Aurangabad,
- Satara
- Dhule
- Anokla
- Jalgaon
There are 16 orange zone districts. These include
- Raigad
- Ahmednagar
- Amravati
- Buldhana
- Nandurbar
- Kolhapur
- Hingoli
- Ratnagiri
- Jalna
- Nanded
- Chandrapur
- Parbhani
- Sangli
- Latur
- Bandara
- Beed
The 6 green districts are
- Osmanabad
- Washi
- Sindhudurg
- Gondia
- Gadchiroli
- Wardha
When it comes to Mumbai, the city has 24 wards with 2,651 containment zones. These zones have been divided into blue, orange, red and red+. The blue signifies that the containment zones are manageable, the orange zones are those where there is at least one COVID-19 patient; the red zone has 2-7 patients, while red+ has over seven patients.
The BMC has further stated that 1,153 buildings in the containment zones are blue; 1,035 are orange; 373 are red containment; and 90 are red+ containment zones.
Meanwhile, the state government has amended its strategy to fight the virus. Accordingly, the individual minister has been assigned at least three wards to extensively organise community thermo screening and supply of Oxymeter for checking. The political parties and social organisations activists will be engaged in a large number by providing training to check temperature and oxygen in densely populated and slum areas.
Further, the cooperative societies are being requested to conduct thermo screening and check oxygen level among their members.
The BMC has issued an order on late Thursday whereby the ward officers can identify the availability of beds and accordingly facilitate admission of COVID patients. This is being done to reduce the burden on civic and government hospitals and avoid patient and their relatives from moving helter-skelter in search of hospitals.
Further, the leading private hospitals have been asked to keep 70 per cent beds reserved for non COVID and poor people who will be charged at a concessional rates while for the 30 per cent beds they can recover charges as per their own rate card.
Further, BMC will step up testing facilities as it has conducted more than 1.30 lakh so far of which 12% are positive cases.
Situation in Pune and surrounding areas
The government on Thursday allowed reopening of industries in Pimpri Chichwad excluding containment zones. The government has permitted 100 per cent staff presence in private offices in green and orange zones though it will continue to be 33 per cent in red zone.
Further, the government proposes to allow reopening of GST offices and collection, registration of properties and operation of regional transport offices for the issuance and renewal of motor vehicle licenses in orange and green zones.
The total COVID-19 cases in the state are 25,922 and the death toll is 975. Mumbai, Pune and Malegoan are one of the worst-hit regions in Maharashtra. Mumbai alone has recorded 16,738 and 621 deaths in Mumbai alone.
Meanwhile, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation has reduced the number of containment zones in the geography that comprises Vashi, Turbhe, Ghansoli, Airoli and other areas.
Lockdown 3.0 which was enforced by the Central Government is to end on May 17. In an address to the nation on Tuesday, PM Modi hinted on Lockdown 4.0. He said that the fourth phase of the lockdow which will be very different from the earlier three phases.
