Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray | Stock Image | Photo credit: PTI
Mumbai: The Government of Maharashtra has decided to impose a nightly curfew on municipal corporation boundaries in the state until January 5 in light of the emergence of a new strain of coronavirus in the UK.
The nightly curfew will remain in effect from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. every day beginning Tuesday, December 22.
It was also announced that passengers arriving in the state from countries in Europe and the Middle East will have to remain in mandatory institutional quarantine for 14 days starting tomorrow. Such passengers will need to undergo the COVID-19 RT-PCR test on the fifth or seventh day of arrival in Maharashtra.
The announcement came after CM Uddhav Thackeray chaired a meeting to review the coronavirus situation in the state and implement preventive measures to slow the spread of the disease.
It was announced that separate hospitals will be organized for passengers showing symptoms of the new mutated COVID-19 virus.
In addition, the state government has ordered a home quarantine for all passengers arriving from countries other than Europe and the Middle East.
On Sunday, Thackeray warned the people of the state that the threat of the coronavirus was still very much present and asked people to follow all COVID-19 preventive guidelines.
“Let me say this again, the threat from Corona has not yet passed. To avoid the virus, don’t let your guard down, don’t crowd in public places, don’t mask yourself, observe physical distance and keep washing your hands, ”the CMO wrote on Twitter.
New strain of COVID-19 from the UK
The restrictions have been imposed following the emergence of a new strain of coronavirus in the UK that Britain has described as more infectious and “out of control”.
India, among several other countries, has already imposed a temporary suspension of flights from the UK. The Indian ban on flights to the UK will run from 11:59 pm on December 22 to 11:59 pm on December 31.
France, Germany, Canada, Italy, Austria, Hong Kong, etc., have imposed flight bans in the UK, while Saudi Arabia has temporarily halted all flights and entry through land and sea ports for at least one week.
