Maharashtra Extends Lockdown Until 31 July; Restrictions To Remain In Place In Mumbai Metropolitan Region

The Maharashtra government on Monday (29 June) announced that it has extended the lockdown till 31 July in view of the steadily increasing Covid-19 cases in the state.

While all existing lockdown conditions will continue, the government will gradually ease restrictions over the next month.

All visits outdoors, barring for essentials or for specified employment purposes will remain banned during this period.

"It is further directed that the movement of persons for the purposes of non-essential activities like shopping and the outdoor exercises, shall be restricted within the neighbourhood area limits with all necessary prescribed mandatory precautions of wearing masks, social distancing and personal hygiene," a statement read.

In municipal corporations of Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) region including Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM), all essential-item shops, all currently working industrial units, e-commerce and food delivery services will be allowed, according to an NDTV report.

The MMR region has the most number of COVID-19 cases in the state.

These guidelines are also going to be implemented in other areas such as Municipal Corporation of Pune; Solapur; Aurangabad; Malegaon; Nashik; Dhule; Jalgaon; Akola; Amravati; and Nagpur.

"All Government offices (excluding Emergency, health and Medical, treasuries, disaster management, police, NIC, food and Civil Supply, FCI, NYK, Municipal Services) to function with 15% strength or 15 persons - whichever is higher," the statement said.

However, the private officers in the MMR are only allowed to operate with 10 per cent staff or 10 persons.

For other regions, the government announced some more relaxations in this phase of the lockdown.

"Intra-district bus service will be allowed with maximum 50% capacity per bus with physical distancing and sanitation measures," the government said.

For the past three days, the state has been recording 5,000-plus Covid-19 cases daily, taking its tally to 164,626, and there have been 7,429 deaths till date.

(With inputs from IANS)