Maharashtra to impose night curfew from Jan 10; schools shut till Feb 15

Swimming pools, gyms, spas, beauty salons, zoos, museums, and entertainment parks will remain closed from Monday; colleges shut till Feb 15

Maharashtra government on Saturday announced imposition of night curfew from 11 pm to 5 am from Jan 10 and other guidelines as the state is grappling with a Covid surge.

Maharashtra government has also barred movement in groups of five or more persons from 5 am to 11 pm. Swimming pools, gyms, spas, beauty  salons, zoos, museums, and entertainment parks will remain closed.

Hair cutting salons and hopping malls and market complexes can operate at 50 per cent capacity, and information about the present number of visitors should be displayed on noticeboard.

Schools, colleges and coaching institutes to remain closed till Feb 15, with few exceptions in the state.

In Maharashtra, hotels, restaurants, cinema halls, auditorium to operate at 50% seating capacity till 10 pm; home delivery of food will be allowed.

The state reported 41,434 new Covid cases, 9,671 recoveries, and 13 deaths in the last 24 hours. Number of active cases in the state are 173,228. Omicron tally in the state has risen to 1,009. 

No visitors will be allowed at government offices except with written permission of office heads. Online interaction facility will be provided for people through video conference.

Government offices should opt for work from home and working hours should be staggered if work from office is required, the circular said.

Private offices have also been asked to rationalize the number of employees coming to work by allowing work from home and staggering working hours.

Attendance at marriages and social, religious, cultural or political gatherings will be capped at 50.

At funerals, not more than 20 persons can remain present.

Sporting events would be deferred, except national and international-level competitions already scheduled. But such events would take place without spectators and with creation of bio- bubble for players and officials.

RT-PCR and Rapid Antigen Tests will be mandatory for players and officials every third day of the event or tournament, the circular said.

Only fully vaccinated people will be allowed to enter malls and shopping complexes, and these establishments will be closed after 10 pm.

Restaurants and eateries will also function at 50 per cent capacity and present number of visitors will be displayed on the notice board. They too can remain open only till 10 pm.

Public transport will be allowed only for fully vaccinated persons. Competitive exams, where hall tickets have been issued, will be held as per the central government guidelines. All other future exams will be conducted only after receiving permission from the State Disaster Management Authority, the circular said.

Mumbai on Saturday reported 20,318 new coronavirus infections, little less than the day before, and five deaths, civic officials said. The city now has more than 100,000 active cases.

The caseload in the country's financial capital rose to 895,098, while death toll reached 16,399.

On Friday, Mumbai had reported 20,971 new cases and six deaths.

As many as 71,019 coronavirus tests were conducted during the day which took the total of samples tested so far to 1,41,35,556, said a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) release.

Mumbai now has 106,037 active cases as 6,003 patients were discharged during the day.

The BMC statement also informed that 82 per cent or 16,661 of the patients detected during the day had no symptoms.

Only 1,257 of these patients were hospitalised and 108 of them were put on oxygen, the BMC said.

(With inputs from PTI)