Tighter curbs or lockdown? Maharashtra to decide today

Maharashtra could see significant curbs in mobility to prevent the Covid-19 virus from spreading after the state reported more than 43,000 cases on Thursday, straining the already stretched healthcare infrastructure.

Severe restrictions not dissimilar to last year’s lockdown could also be imposed across several parts of the state, including Mumbai, a top government official told ET.

On Wednesday, the state added 39,544 cases.


Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will be chairing a meeting of the task force on Covid-19 and a decision is expected on Friday, the official said.

Mumbai will also likely come under some kind of lockdown or face restricted mobility, with the city reporting 8,646 cases on Thursday. Even before the numbers became public, Mumbai mayor Kishori Pednekar on Thursday said the city would go in for a lockdown as early as Friday.

Civic officials said a lockdown or restrictions would have to be imposed as the influx of cases has not just put a strain on hospitals but even testing, with the waiting period for RT-PCR tests stretching to two days due to huge numbers.