Vijay Wadettiwar confirms 'Lockdown Stage' Approaching in Maharashtra, CM to take final call

Maharashtra disaster management minister Vijay Wadettiwar said, that the stage of imposing a fresh lockdown in the state is approaching, but ultimately Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will take a call on it. Earlier in the day, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar stated that 10 ministers and over 20 members of the state Legislative Assembly have tested COVID-19 positive in the state. On December 29, Tribal Development Minister KC Padavi and School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad had confirmed that they had tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus and were under isolation. 

Amid the spread of the new Omicron variant of coronavirus, Maharashtra saw a sharp rise in daily Covid-19 infections in the last 11 days of 2021. This prompted the state government to issue fresh guidelines, in which it capped the attendance at gatherings in open or closed spaces at 50."In case of marriages or any other social, political or religious event, the maximum number of attendees shall be restricted to 50 persons. The maximum number of attendees is restricted to 20 in funerals," according to an order issued by the Maharashtra government on Thursday. The order further said, "In any other part of the state which are tourist spots that attract a large crowd of people such as beaches, open grounds, etc, the competent authority may as deem appropriate, impose section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973."The Mumbai police on Friday (New Year’s Eve), prohibited people from visiting beaches, open grounds, sea faces, promenades, gardens, parks or similar public places from 5 pm to 5 am. The restrictions will remain in place till January 15 in view of rising cases of Covid-19 and its Omicron variant, the police said.