COVID-19 | Night curfew in Maharashtra from January 10; schools, colleges, gyms shut

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In view of the steep surge in the COVID-19 caseload, the Maharashtra government on January 8 announced fresh pandemic-related curbs. The state will remain under a night curfew from January 10 onwards, and schools, colleges, and other educational institutes will remain shut till at least February 15.

Swimming pools, gyms, spas, beauty salons, zoos, museums, and entertainment parks will remain closed till further orders, as per the order issued by the state government.

During the night curfew hours - from 11 pm to 5 am - only essential and emergency services would be permitted. From 5 am to 11 pm onwards, movement in a group of more than five persons would remain prohibited, the order added.

Hair-cutting salons, shopping malls, and market complexes are allowed to operate at 50 percent capacity, under strict COVID-19 safety protocol.

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Restaurants and other eateries are allowed to remain open from 8 am to 10 pm, but the seating capacity should be capped at 50 percent at any given time, according to the government order. Only fully vaccinated persons would be allowed in-person dining, it added.

Government offices will remain open, but no visitors will be allowed except for "those with explicit and written permission from Heads of Offices", the order said.

Private offices, while being permitted to operate, have been advised to cap their in-office strength to 50 percent. "It is advised that not more than 50% working capacity is reached and for this, the management may consider flexible hours for employees," it said.

For marriages, as well as social, religious, and cultural gatherings, a cap of 50 persons would be imposed, the order noted. For funerals and last rites, the maximum permissible limit of attendees was stated as 20 persons.

Cinema halls and theatres can operate till 10 pm, with a maximum seating capacity of 50 percent. Only fully vaccinated visitors should be granted entry, the order noted.

For domestic travel, the Maharashtra government has made it mandatory for those arriving from outside the state to produce their double vaccination certificate, or a negative RT-PCR test report not older than 72 hours from the time of arrival. The restriction will apply for passengers arriving through air, rail, and road routes, the order said.

The fresh curbs were announced on the day when Maharashtra clocked 41,434 new COVID-19 cases and 13 deaths due to the disease. The state's active caseload has climbed to 1,73,238, whereas, the official count of Omicron infections reached 1,009.

Also Read | No move as of now to put curbs on suburban train travel: BMC official

Despite Mumbai accounting for nearly half of Maharashtra's daily infection count, the city's administration has so far decided not to restrict the usage of local trains. The civic department officials have attributed this decision to the low hospitalisation rate despite the surge in positivity.

On January 8, Mumbai reported 20,318 new COVID-19 cases, marginally lower than 20,971 logged a day earlier. The death toll during the same period increased by five. Around 85 percent of the new cases in the city are asymptomatic.