Maharashtra government has extended the lockdown restrictions in the state till January 31, 2021, to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
"The state is threatened with the spread of COVID-19 virus. Therefore, to take certain emergency measures to prevent and contain the spread of the virus, the lockdown in the state has been extended till January 31," Maharashtra government said in a circular.
The activities already allowed and permitted from time to time shall be continued, it added.
Earlier, the Maharashtra government imposed a night curfew in all the municipal areas of the state. The curfew is in place from 11 pm to 6 am and will remain in force till January 5.
Health has remained a big area of concern for Maharashtra in 2020 as COVID-19 cast its long shadow on the state, which remained many times on top in the country in terms of daily cases and deaths due to the disease. The first COVID-19 case in the state was reported on March 9.
Since then, the graph of infections and deaths continued its upward trajectory till hitting a peak in September, and showed a declining trend for the last two months. The state’s health infrastructure came under strain battling the surge in number of patients.
According to Maharashtra’s Health Minister Rajesh Tope, the state capital Mumbai has an extensive domestic and international air connectivity, which resulted in a large number of people carrying the infection here, leading to its further spread locally.
(With inputs from PTI)
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First Published: IST