Maharashtra announces night curfew, weekend lockdown

The Maharashtra government has  decided to imposed a night curfew in the state  from Monday. The state will also go for a complete weekend lockdown from 8 pm on Friday to 7am on Monday. The rules, include a curfew from 8 pm to 7 am; a ban on gatherings of five or more throughout the day; malls, restaurants, bars and places of worship will be closed; home delivery and essential services will be allowed. Industrial operations and construction activity will be allowed. Rules to control crowding in vegetable markets will be introduced.Film shoots will be allowed without crowds but theatres will be closed.

Everything except essential services will be closed on weekends. There will be no new restrictions on traffic but public transport will run at 50 per cent capacity. The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. The new measures will come into force from Monday (April 5) and remain in place till April 30, the government said. The move comes a day after Maharashtra reported nearly 50,000 fresh Covid-19 cases, the highest single-day spike since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. Opposition leaders Devendra Fadnavis and Raj Thackeray on Sunday welcomed the move and assured support in adhering to Covid-19 norms.