COVID-19 Maharashtra: 15-day restrictions comes into effect, CM Uddhav Thackeray orders to take stern action against violators

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday announced a series of strict restrictions in the state till May 1 including the imposition of Section 144 from Wednesday in view of rising COVID-19 cases and but said he will not term the new restrictions as "lockdown".

Police have been deployed in the state to ensure proper compliance with the curfew. Against this backdrop, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday directed to take stern action against those violating the rules. Under no circumstances violators will go unnoticed in this way infection will not be able to spread further, he said. The Chief Minister held a meeting of all the Divisional Commissioners and Collectors, Municipal Commissioners and Police Officers through video conferencing.

Under the new guideline only essential services are exempted, but this does not mean that the rules should be broken, or that people should start crowding. The Chief Minister gave clear instructions that otherwise the facilities will be closed by the local administration if rules are not followed.

The meeting was attended by Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat, Health Minister Rajesh Tope, Medical Education Minister Amit Deshmukh, Chief Secretary Sitaram Kunte and senior officials.

Sanjay Oak, Shashank Joshi and Tatyarao Lahane, doctors of the state task force, said that unnecessary use of Remdisivir should be avoided and oxygen should be used as required. The task force team also provided guidance on HRCT testing as well as plasma use.

According to Union Health Ministry, Maharashtra had reported 28,307 new COVID-19 cases 31624 discharges, and 281 deaths on Wednesday. With this, the number of recoveries reached 28,66,097 in the state. Currently, there are 5,94,585 active cases in the state.