As Maharashtra braces for more stringent measures from 8 pm today to April 30 in the wake of the rising COVID-19 cases, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) sent a communication to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray seeking clarifications whether the restrictions would be in place only on weekends or the entire month.
On Sunday, however, the government had announced a night curfew from 8 pm to 7 am on weekdays and weekend lockdown till April 30 across the state. The confusion is mostly affecting the 25 lakh-odd traders in Maharashtra.
The CAIT has suggested that instead of a total lockdown, the government can restrict the business hours from 11 am to 5 pm in markets with extra efforts to follow the Covid protocols seriously.
Amid an unprecedented surge in COVID-19 cases, the Maharashtra government announced these restrictions. It includes a ban on gatherings of five or more people and shutting down of malls, restaurants, bars, places of worship, and movie theatres. Even public transport will be run at 50 percent capacity.
As the city enters the new phase of partial lockdown from this evening, on Twitter many people have vented their ire at the announcement. One of the users shared a photo of a tiny bulldozer trying to free the Ever Given container ship that was stuck in the Suez Canal a few days ago. The user tried to draw parallels between COVID-19 and the government’s efforts in controlling the surge in cases.
While one user tweeted about a harrowing experience while boarding a bus after waiting for nearly 40 minutes, another questioned the decision to allow film shoots to continue.
On Sunday, the state recorded the highest single-day spike of 57,074 cases. India reported over 1 lakh new cases, the highest ever daily surge in the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the coronavirus situation as the country battles a second wave. “Reviewed the COVID-19 and vaccination-related situation across the country. Reiterated the importance of the five-fold strategy of Testing, Tracing, Treatment, Covid-appropriate behaviour and Vaccination as an effective way to fight the global pandemic,” Modi had tweeted.
Also read:
(Edited by : Abhishek Jha)
First Published: Apr 5, 2021 2:45 PM IST
