Maharashtra may not impose a state wide lock down immediately incdicates the state govt

Maharashtra which has seen the highest number of corona infection cases in the country  is on the verge of a complete lockdown   chief minister Uddhav Thackeray warned on Friday,2 April 2021, appealing to political parties, industrialists and ordinary people to cooperate and obey safety guidelines.

Stricter norms expected soon

The state government has prepared an elaborate Standard Operating Procedure and decision about stricter norms is expected in the next two days. “The eight districts severely hit by cases have already imposed lockdown or night curfew. There would be stricter norms in other districts across the state,” Thackeray said.

It however remains what the state government is likely to do to tackle the situation in the Commercial Capital Mumbai which has reported highest incidence of infections

Thackeray’s virtual address came after a review meeting with ministers and top officials. The western state is, by far, the worst affected in India and has been driving the second wave of infections in India with record cases. On April second,  the state posted 47,913cases.

I cannot allow to go the situation out of hand said Thackeray

“I am not announcing a lockdown, but definitely warning about it. I am sure we can avoid a lockdown if we decided firmly about it. We will observe for the next couple of days, if people are observing protocol strictly. But in case no such solution found, I cannot allow to go the situation out of hand,” he said.

Thackeray warned that hospital beds will start falling short in next 15 days if the current spike in Covid cases continued. He also said stricter curbs will be announced in the next couple of days after speaking to political leaders and experts from various sectors.

If a lockdown is imposed, we face an economic crisis; people’s lives are more important for us

“We will issue guidelines for stricter curbs in next couple of days. Political parties, industrialists have been opposing the lockdown and warning the government against it. We are in a Catch-22 situation. If a lockdown is imposed, we face an economic crisis. At the same time, people’s lives are more important for us. Many countries including France, United Kingdom, Belgium, Brazil have impose the strict lockdown for many weeks in their fight against the second wave,” he said.