Maharashtra: 5 levels of unlock; no curbs in 18 districts from tomorrow

Restrictions in Mumbai would be relaxed partially, but the travel by local trains, the state capital's lifeline, would not be open to the general public as of now, says Disaster Management Minister Vi

A Maharashtra minister on Thursday said the state will have a 5-level unlock plan after weeks of lockdown imposed due to coronavirus pandemic. 

"We have prepared a 5-level unlock plan for the state on the basis of positivity rate and status of occupancy of oxygen beds in the districts. Districts with the lowest positivity rate will have no restrictions," said Maharashtra minister Vijay Wadettiwar. 

He also announced that the state board Class 10 & 12 examinations have been cancelled this year, days after Centre took a similar step for CBSE Class 12.

The Disaster Management Minister made the announcement after a meeting of the State Disaster Management Authority in Mumbai on Thursday.

The lockdown-like restrictions, imposed in April this year when the second wave of the pandemic intensified, would be lifted in 18 districts where the positivity rate is 5 percent or less and the occupancy of oxygen beds in hospitals is less than 25 percent, he said.

These 18 districts are Aurangabad, Bhandara, Buldhana, Chandrapur, Dhule, Gadchiroli, Gondia, Jalgaon, Jalna, Latur, Nagpur, Nanded, Nashik, Yavatmal, Washim, Wardha, Parbhani and Thane.

All restrictions would be lifted in these districts, he said.

Restrictions in Mumbai would be relaxed partially, but the travel by local trains, the state capital's lifeline, would not be open to the general public as of now, the minister said.

Mumbai is still in level 2, if it reaches level 1, local train services will be resumed, said Wadettiwar.

Maharashtra on Wednesday recorded 15,169 new Covid-19 cases, taking the tally to 5.7 million and 285 fresh deaths and also added 268 previously unreported fatalities, the state health department said.

The statewide toll rose to 96,751, it said. The new cases were higher than 14,123 infections registered on Tuesday.

Recoveries far exceeded new infections.

As many as 29,270 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, pushing the number of recovered cases to 5.46 million, a statement from the health department said. The state has 216,016 active cases, it said.

The COVID-19 recovery rate marginally increased to 94.54 per cent from 94.28 per cent a day ago, while the fatality rate is at 1.67 per cent, the department said.