Essential services exempted from lockdown : Maharashtra govt

Essential services like food items, vegetables, fruits, grocery and bakery items are exempted from lockdown and the vendors can provide home deliveries, said Directorate General of Information and Public Relations, Maharashtra Government.

Further, police will facilitate the movement of the vendors on road.

Earlier today, Maharashtra government permitted the printing and distribution of newspapers from April 1. The newspaper services were halted after the state government announced lockdown in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in the country.

The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Industry Minister Subhash Desai with newspaper publishers and distributors.

The government has put the print and electronic media in the category of essential services in the national lockdown guidelines.

In his address to the nation on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21-day lockdown in the entire country effective from midnight to deal with the spread of coronavirus, saying that "social distancing" is the only option to deal with the disease, which spreads rapidly.

The total number of positive coronavirus cases in India have climbed to 606, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday.