Maharashtra has ordered a nightly curfew: from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. until January 5 (archive)
Mumbai:
Maharashtra has imposed a nightly curfew, from 11pm to 6am until January 5, for Mumbai and all municipal corporate areas, in light of the mutated strain of coronavirus that has emerged in the UK and caused several nations, including India, temporarily ban flights to and from that country.
Passengers from European countries other than the United Kingdom or the Middle East will be sent to a 14-day institutional quarantine, and others must comply with a similar period of home quarantine, the state government said Monday night, after Chief Minister Uddhav. Thackeray held a meeting to discuss the mutant virus strain.
Earlier today, the center announced a ban on all flights from the UK until December 31.
The ban will start on Wednesday and all incoming UK passengers before then will receive RT-PCR tests upon arrival. Those who test positive will be sent to institutional quarantine and the rest will be asked to isolate themselves at home for seven days.
The Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has assured people that the government has the situation under control and that “there is no need to panic.” Dr. Vardhan said Monday: “… don’t bother with imaginary situations, imaginary conversations and imaginary panic. The government is fully alert.”
The decision to impose a night curfew marks a U-turn on the part of Chief Minister Thackeray.
On Sunday he said he was against the night curfew, although experts had recommended it; this was, however, prior to the meeting on the mutant Covid strain. The chief minister said the masks would be mandatory for the next six months.
The mutated version of the coronavirus was first detected in south-east England in September. It is fast becoming the dominant strain in London and other parts of the UK, leading to an increase in the number of infections and stricter levels of restrictions for some 18 million people.
The new strain has health experts concerned at a time when several nations, including the United Kingdom and the United States, have approved Covid vaccines to fuel their fight amid the pandemic. European Union experts believe that existing coronavirus vaccines are effective against the new strain.
Maharashtra’s curfew and flight restrictions date back to measures a few months ago, when the virus swept through the state.
Although the spread of the virus has slowed significantly since then, the state’s seven-day moving average of new daily cases dropped to 2,301 from more than 22,000 in mid-September, it remains the worst hit, with nearly 19 lakh of cases since. the crisis broke out. in December of last year. The number of active cases is around 63,000 and the state has reported around 48,700 deaths related to the virus.
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