Maharashtra weighs suspension of Delhi-Mumbai flights, trains amid rising COVID-19 cases in national capital: Report

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray

Amid a surge in COVID-19 cases in the national capital, the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra is planning to suspend flights from Delhi to Mumbai. The state administration is also thinking of stopping the train services between Delhi and Mumbai.

"Various measures are being discussed in order to curb the virus spread in the state, and suspension of train and flight operations to and from Delhi is one of them," PTI quoted Principal Secretary Sanjay Kumar as saying.

Lockdown not a solution to curb COVID-19 spread, says Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal

The Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray-led administration recently held a meeting in the state capital on the measures needed to curb the spread of infection from people entering Maharashtra from other states.

Earlier on November 20, the national capital recorded 6,608 new coronavirus cases, taking the infection toll in the national capital to over 5.17 lakh cases. Delhi has recorded a total of 8,159 death due to COVID-19 so far.

Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on November 20 expressed hope that, based on positive signs over the last four-five days, the national Capital was crossing the third peak of COVID-19 cases.

"In the last few days, the positivity rate has dropped from 15 percent to 13 percent on November 17 and on 20 November, it is at 10.5 percent. So the positivity rate in Delhi has dropped by 5 percent in five days. This has given us hope that we may perhaps be past the peak of the third wave of infection that the city has been reeling under," LiveMint quoted Kejriwal as saying at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit.

According to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare data, 5,640 new cases were recorded in Maharashtra, taking the state's COVID-19 tally to 17,68,695, while the death toll reached 46,511.