Maharashtra Lockdown: What about citizens' district travel from June 1? Thackeray govt answers citizen's questions

The Maharashtra government on Sunday decided to extend the ongoing lockdown in the state by 15 days till June 15. "Lockdown is being extended for 15 days, shall be in place till June 15 now. Depending on the case tally of districts, certain relaxations and restrictions will be enforced," Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said. The state government also released a set of guidelines in the wake of lockdown extension.

Against this background, many questions have arised and created confusion in the minds of citizens. The Thackeray government has answered to all the queries.

As per the census of 2011, the municipal corporations that are having population of more than 10 lakhs will be considered as independent administrative unit for curbing the spread of Corona-19. Brihan Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Kalyan- Dombivali, Vasai –Virar, Pune, Pimpri –Chinchwad, Nagpur, Aurangabad and Nashik will be treated under this unit. Barring the jurisdiction of these corporations, rest of the part of district will be a separate administrative unit.

Question 1: Who decides which of the administrative elements (Municipal Corporation or other part of the district) should be in category C, D or E for covid restrictions?

Ans: - This decision is taken by the District Management Administration (DMA) and announced immediately. After this, the criteria will be decided according to the requirements of different administrative units.

Question 2- What if the positivity rate in a municipal area or (other parts of the district) or the number of occupied oxygen beds changes?

Ans: - These guidelines will be applicable for orders issued on 29th May 2021. The District Disaster Management Administration will conduct a weekly review of the occupied oxygen beds and positivity rates, usually on Friday, so that their implementation can begin by next Monday. If the positivity rate changes in such a way that the restrictions have to be relaxed, the District Disaster Management Administration may apply this provision subject to the 'Break the Chain' order dated May 30, 2021, but permission must be obtained from the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA). 

If the positivity rate and the percentage of occupied oxygen beds change in such a way that there is a need to tighten the restrictions, the District Disaster Management Administration may further tighten the restrictions by informing the SDMA.

Question 3: - When calculating the percentage of oxygen beds, will it include the number of ventilator beds / ICU beds?

Ans: - Any bed that has oxygen supply attached or provided in a hospital or medical facility will be treated as an oxygen bed.

Question 4: - What about salons / spas / gyms and other non-essential establishments which are not included in the order published on 30th May 2021?

Answer: - The 'Break the Chain' order issued on 12 May 2021 will be enforced in such places.

Question 5: If people from outside the district or from outside the state are on the oxygen bed in a district, should that oxygen bed be considered as 'occupied'?

Ans: - All oxygen beds, no matter who they are, will be treated as 'occupied oxygen beds'.

Question 6: - What about GRE, GMAT, TOEFL, IELTS exams?

Ans: - A knowledgeable person will be allowed to accompany the students for any examination. Hall tickets or any other documents will be considered valid for the trip.

Question 7: - What about citizen's district travel?

Answer: - If any of them is having the positivity rate more than 20 percent and more than 75 percent of oxygen beds are occupied, the restrictions implemented by the order of 12th May 2021 ‘Break the chain’ will be made more strict as follows:- The borders of such districts will be totally closed and no person will be allowed to enter or exit from such districts. The exceptions will be death from a family, medical reason and emergency services or services related to such situations.The restrictions of break the chain as of 12th May 2021, will be implemented in all the districts and Municipal Corporation jurisdictions that do not fall in the above administrative unit.