Night curfew in Pune to curb rising Covid cases; schools shut till Feb 28

Hotels, restaurants and bars to shut at 11 pm as positivity rate is up 10%; essential services remain unaffected; Maharashtra reports 6,281 new cases, 40 deaths in past 24 hours

Pune on Sunday announced a night curfew effective tomorrow in view of the rising coronavirus cases. However, essential services will remain unaffected. People can step out of their homes only for essential work.

"No public movement will be allowed from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m," said the Pune's divisional commissioner Saurabh Rao. 

“In Pune district, the positivity rate has gone up to 10 per cent. It was only about 4.5 to 5 per cent a fortnight earlier. To avoid a repeat of what happened last year, where the positivity rate had risen from 2 to 4 per cent to 10 per cent in just few months, we are taking some precautionary measures” said Rao.

Schools and colleges in the district will remain closed till February 28. Hotels, restaurants and bars will have to shut at 11 p.m once the guidelines kick in. Vegetable vendors, newspaper vendors and others involved in morning activities excluded.

As per the guidelines, there is no curb on inter-district movement, but travellers and transport agencies have been asked to follow Covid protocols.

The fresh restrictions come amid a fast rising infections in Maharashtra, that has prompted officials to tighten restrictions. The state reported 6,281 new Covid-19 cases and 40 deaths in the last 24 hours. As on February 20, total infection count in Pune stands at 399,254 with over 8,000 deaths. 

In Amravati, the district administration had announced a weekend lockdown till Monday.  The schools and colleges in Wardha district have been ordered to remain closed till further notice in view of the rising cases.