No Plans for Lockdown despite many COVID-19 Cases: Maharashtra

There is a huge rise in the COVID-19 cases in Mumbai. Maharashtra government is still not planning to halt the local train travel, which may strike up the cases even more. The local trains are used by lakhs of passengers daily. Many people travel to Mumbai from neighbouring areas such as Thane, Navi Mumbai, Palghar and Raigad. The State government clarified that it has no plans of bringing restrictions on inter-district travel or of planning a lockdown but may tighten the restrictions. The government has ordered “work from home” for police personnel above 55 years.

Public Health Minister Rajesh Tope had a meeting on Thursday (06-01-2021). He had this meeting with Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar and Home Minister Dilip Walse-Patil. After the meeting, Mr Tope said “There is no plans of lockdown as of now. All we are talking about now is to tighten restrictions. But even that will happen only after the meeting and approval from the Chief Minister. We have only discussed about weekend lockdown and night curfew. But there is no decision of imposing it,” The government also accepted that a number of police personnel and medical professionals are being infected with COVID-19. “We had done this in the previous wave as well and we are doing it again. We have asked all police personnel above 55 years to work from home,” said Mr Dilip Walse-Patil.

Also read – International travel guidelines for Indian tourists

Booster Shots

Meanwhile, Medical Education Minister Amit Deshmukh on Thursday had a meeting of the department as doctors from State-run medical colleges and hospitals got infected with the COVID-19. “Apart from ensuring availability of beds for patients and medicines, it is important to safeguard the safety of health workers. We have begun the process of delivering booster shots to them but there are reports that many doctors too are falling ill due to COVID-19. We have given instructions to hire doctors on contracts if necessary, but not to slow down medical operations,” said Mr Deshmukh.

States such as Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Punjab have enforced night and weekend curfews to halt the spread of the virus. Vaccination drives are also been conducted thoroughly. These are the only option to fight the deadly virus. 

Also read – Simple ways you can make a difference in the coronavirus era

COVID – 19 Updates

India reported 1,59,632 fresh COVID-19 cases till now. This is over 28 % higher than the previous days’ cases. There are a total of 3,623 cases of Omicron variant cases all across India. In order to deal with the situation, the government is speeding up vaccination drives across the country. The number of deaths has also increased and there is a huge strike in metro cities.

Also read – Love in the Time of Corona: Real-life Stories from Around the World

Precautions one must take to be safe from COVID – 19

• Wear a mask every time you head out of your home
• Sanitize your hand frequently or clean your hands often with soap and water
• Maintain social distancing with people even if they are not sick
• Do not travel or head outside if you are feeling unwell
• Avoiding touching public surfaces

Also read – Coronavirus Outbreak: Precautions to Take Against Covid-19

Conclusion 

Be safe and still if you are planning to travel then take all necessary precautions and be a responsible citizen. Covid – 19 is again on the loose end and is even deadlier than before. So, it is better to take care of yourself and of those you love. It is just a matter of time and soon everything will be back to normal 🙂