Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Friday said he has instructed administrations in the state to take strict action against people who are found without masks in public amid the rising COVID-19 cases in state. Speaking to mediapersons at Shivneri Fort after an event, Pawar said district administrations have been authorised to assess the situation in their respective districts and impose a lockdown from 6 AM to 6 PM, if the situation demands.
"I am going to chair a meeting on February 21 in Pune to discuss measures to contain the viral spread," the deputy chief minister said. A spike in COVID-19 cases witnessed in some districts of the state is a matter of concern, he said.
"In some cases, the local administrations of such districts have been authorised to impose lockdowns from 6 AM to 6 PM if the situation demands," he said. Moreover, local authorities have been asked to take strict action against those who do not wear masks in public, Pawar said.
Speaking at an event organised to celebrate Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's birth anniversary at the fort, Pawar said he is thankful to people of the state for responding to the government's appeal to celebrate Shiv Jayanti and other festivals in a simple manner in the last one year. "If Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj had been there, he too would not have taken any decision that could endanger the lives of people," he said.
Redressal meets for citizens, popularly known as 'janta darbars', of NCP ministers in Maharashtra have been postponed for two weeks in view of a surge in COVID-19 cases in the past few days, the party said on Friday. In a statement, the NCP said people can email their problems to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. during this period.
Incidentally, two of the NCP's ministers, Jayant Patil and Rajesh Tope, had, on Thursday, announced that they had tested positive for coronavirus. Such janta darbars were being held by the party since August last year. As on Thursday, Maharashtra had a caseload of 20,81,520, including 51,669 deaths.
Civic and police officials in Thane held a meeting on Friday to assess the COVID-19 situation in view of the surge in cases in some parts of Maharashtra, especially Vidarbha. Officials said the meeting was chaired by Thane Municipal Commissioner Vipin Sharma who directed all departments to ensure COVID care facilities that had been used during the height of the outbreak can be reactivated as soon as the situation warrants.
Thane added 506 COVID-19 cases on Thursday and its overall tally currently stands at 2,59,125, while the death toll is 6,219.
Sharma said the positivity rate in the city had jumped from 2.5 per cent earlier to around 5 per cent in the past couple of days, but added there were enough number of beds, ventilators, etc to tackle a surge. He, however, refused to speak about the possibility of a lockdown in the city due to the spike in cases and called such talk "premature".
(With inputs from agencies)