Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Wednesday said the state government is likely to relax Level 3 curbs in 14 districts where the active patients growth rate in the last three weeks has been 1 percent or below.
Rajesh Tope also said that the public health department has submitted the proposal for this two days ago.
At present, almost all districts and regions in Maharashtra are under level-3 restrictions. Last month, the state government announced a five-level plan to ease restrictions as per weekly COVID-19 positivity rate and oxygen bed occupancy.
As per the government order, cities and districts which have a positivity rate of five per cent and the oxygen bed occupancy of less than 25 per cent come under level-1, where curbs can be lifted completely.
The level-3 category is applicable for places where the positivity rate is five per cent to 10 per cent and the oxygen bed occupancy is more than 40 per cent.
Last week, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar had said that the state government is considering granting exemptions from coronavirus-induced restrictions to the fully-vaccinated people.
Speaking to reporters, Pawar also said the government was mulling an extension of the timings of shops and restaurants from the current deadline of 4 pm. He said a decision on granting relaxations on the weekends is likely next week.
"The state is thinking of granting relaxations to those people who have got both doses of COVID-19 vaccine. This will encourage citizens to get inoculated," he said. Pawar said demands are raised to extend the timings of shops and restaurants from 4 pm to 7 pm.
"We are thinking of extending the timing for shops and restaurants but the final decision will be taken by the CM. We are meeting with experts on Monday after which a decision will be taken on relaxations on weekends," the deputy CM said.
He said the government was aiming to vaccinate more people compared to the previous month. Pawar said the state government was taking various measures like augmenting the medical infrastructure anticipating a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
(With inputs from Agencies)
