Maharashtra imposes night curfew from Jan 10; gyms, salons to remain closed

Maharashtra government on Saturday imposed a night curfew in the state in view of the increasing cases of Covid in the state.

Schools and colleges, as announced earlier, will remain closed till February 15. In addition to that, the government has now asked the private offices to operate at a 50% capacity. Restaurants, shopping malls and auditoriums have been asked to function at half capacity. Gyms, beauty salons will remain closed, the government said.

The restrictions come as the daily caseload of the state has been steadily increasing and with 41,434 fresh cases, the state breached the 40,000-mark on Saturday. The tally of the Omicron cases in the state crossed 1,000 as with 133 new cases of Omicron, the state’s Omicron tally now stands at 1,009.

In the latest order, the state government said entertainment parks, zoos, museums and all other tourists places will remain closed. As part of the night curfew, no movement is allowed after 11pm. During the day too, a gathering of five or more people will not be allowed anywhere in the state.

Restaurants, eateries will be allowed to operate at 50% capacity from 8am to 10pm. Only fully vaccinated people will be allowed in cinemas and auditoriums. Gyms, salons will remain closed in the state.

Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray was not in favour of imposing a lockdown but state minister said the final decision on further restrictions in Maharashtra will be taken by the CM after his discussion regarding the Covid-19 situation, which took place on Friday. Mumbai civic authorities earlier said further restrictions will be proposed when the city’s Covid cases reach 20,000 per day. However, on Friday, the Mumbai mayor said there will be no Mumbai-specific lockdown as bed and oxygen requirements are under control.

Here are the new restrictions

1. No movement in groups of 5 or more from 5am to 11pm

2. No movement from 11pm to 5am, except for essential purposes

3. Maximum 50 people allowed at wedding events, 20 at funerals.

4. Schools and colleges will remain closed till February 15.

5. Gyms, swimming pools, Spa, beauty salons will remain closed but hair cutting salons will function at 50% capacity between 7am and 10pm every day.

6. Sporting events are to be deferred except for national and international level competitions which have already been scheduled.

7. Shopping malls will remain closed from 10pm to 8am and function at a 50% capacity. Management is to appoint marshals to ensure strict observance of Covid rules.

8. Restaurants will operate between 8am and 10pm with mandatory disclosure of full capacity and the present number of visitors on a notice board. Home delivery is allowed every day. The same rule is for cinema theatres as well.

9. For domestic travels, double vaccination or negative RT-PCR test report valid from up to 72 hours of the time of the arrival in the state is mandatory.

10. No change in local trains as all public transport will function as usual but only fully vaccinated people will be allowed.