Big News! Amid COVID-19 surge, Maharashtra govt likely to impose lockdown "at any moment"

The Maharashtra government may impose a complete lockdown in state "at any moment" in view of the surge in coronavirus cases, a senior and reliable source in the ministry told Lokmat. It is understood that the administration has made the decision and an announcement could be made at any moment. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray discussed the issue with officials and the step is likely to be taken accordingly, according to the sources.

The CM has said that lockdown is inevitable as the administration doesn't have supporting staff. However it is being said that the implementation of the lockdown will be delayed by at least 24 hrs to give time to citizen to buy essentials, added the source.

Amid the massive surge in COVID-19 cases in the state, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday in a Facebook live said that possibility of lockdown cannot be ruled out if the current coronavirus situation prevails while cautioning that the state may fall short of healthcare infrastructure in the next 15 to 20 days. Thackeray had also called an urgent meeting to discuss the recent spurt in cases in the state. 

"In a couple of days, strict restrictions will be issued to curb COVID-19. If the number of cases keeps increasing, there could be a shortage of healthcare infrastructure in the next 15-20 days," Thackeray added.

Maharashtra reported 47,827 new COVID-19 cases and 202 deaths in the last 24 hours. The total case count in the state has reached 29,04,076 including 3,89,832 active cases and 55,379 fatalities.

Today, I am giving an indication for a complete lockdown, but not announcing it formally. If things do not improve visibly in a couple of days and if no other solution is found, we will have to announce another lockdown like it is being done globally.

— CMO Maharashtra (@CMOMaharashtra) April 2, 2021