Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra government on Friday directed all malls in the state to remain shut from 8 pm to 7 am due to a massive surge in COVID-19 cases. Uddhav also instructed the administration to take strict action if the SOPs imposed in crowded places like malls, bars, hotels, and cinemas is not implemented.
The government has also announced the imposition of a night curfew across the state from Sunday (March 28). The decision was taken after Thackeray held a meeting with district collectors and divisional commissioners through video conferencing.
"I have no intention of imposing a lockdown, but given the growing number of patients, there is a possibility that the health facilities that we have set up on a large scale across the state might also fall short," said CM Uddhav Thackeray. Taking this into consideration, Uddhav has directed district collectors to focus on the availability of health facilities, beds and medicines.
Uddhav said the public needs to realize that the threat has not gone away, on the contrary, it has increased. "The number of COVID-19 patients is increasing rapidly. It is not possible to say how much more it will increase in the coming period. In such a case, there is a need to consider strict measures," said the Chief Minister. He also instructed the district collectors to enforce lockdown if there is a need in the district where the number of patients is increasing rapidly.
Thackeray also appealed the people to strictly follow the COVID-19 norms or else the government will be forced to impose stricter restrictions.
The Chief Minister also instructed the administration that care should be taken to ensure that there would be no crowds and restrictions on social, political and cultural programs should be observed.
