Amid concerns of the spread of the new Delta Plus variant of the novel coronavirus, the Maharashtra government on Friday issued new orders tightening curbs by imposing three levels of unlocking norms as opposed to the previous five levels which are to be applied to districts and cities across the State.
The first two levels, which permitted maximum relaxations for districts and cities have been removed till further orders, as per the notification issued by State Chief Secretary Sitaram Kunte. The new orders follow soon after the State reported the country’s first fatality of the new variant, an 80-year-old man who succumbed to the virus in Ratnagiri district.
“Given that the virus causing COVID-19 is undergoing mutations in various geographies and that these mutations are displaying more transmissibility and potential reductions in monoclonal antibody response, a State Level Trigger mandating all the administrative units, irrespective of values of the indices of weekly positivity rate and oxygen bed occupancy percentage to remain at a level not below 3 is to be in operation till withdrawn by the specific order of the State Disaster Management Authority,” reads the order.
As per the new order, districts or municipal corporations with a weekly positivity rate of between 5-10% or oxygen bed occupancy over 40% will now be classified under level 3. In this category, shops selling essentials can stay open till 4 p.m. on all days and those selling non-essentials are allowed to operate only on weekdays.
Malls and theatres will remain shut in these areas while section 144 of the CrPC will be in force and public movement after 5 p.m. must be minimal. Gyms, saloons will be open only till 4 p.m. with appointments and air-conditioners will not be allowed to run inside the premises.
Restaurants can stay open till 4 p.m. only on weekdays with only takeaways permitted thereafter. Construction activities will be allowed with 50% staff.
Laying especial stress on vaccination through public awareness activities, the order directs district authorities to make attempts to achieve at least 70% of the eligible population at the earliest and encourage workplace vaccinations especially of blue-collar workers.
It further mandated that the weekly positivity rate to be considered for decision regarding the levels of restrictions to be applied periodically must be determined only on the basis of RT-PCR tests and not rapid antigen tests or any others.
As per the order, the District Disaster Management Authority would now have to look into the trend of a two week-period before deciding whether or not to raise or lower the level of restrictions to be enforced in a particular district.
The fresh orders will see an automatic tightening of regulations in districts like Pune and Kolhapur, where the case positivity rates are still high.