Maharashtra goes in for strict fortnight long daytime curfew to break the Covid-19 spread chain

All essential services to function as usual, all non-essential travel must be avoided at all cost. Urges Centre to allow airlift of Oxygen supplies by Airforce. Relief package for daily wage workers, street vendors announced

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Mumbai: Recalling the constant forewarning he was giving about more stringent measures, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray announced a strict fortnight long daytime dawn to dusk (daytime) curfew from 8 pm of Wednesday evening (April 14) to break the Covid-19 spread chain. The fortnight long daytime Curfew between 7 am to 8 pm will last for the next 15 days during which only essential services will be allowed to operate.

Interacting with the people of Maharashtra through a Facebook Live on Tuesday, Thackeray said that daily spike of Covid cases is “scary” as a reason section 144 will be imposed across the state. Informing that Maharashtra has reported 60,212 new cases of Covid today, he said, 2.5 lakh tests are being done daily basis. 

The Chief Minister said during this period, public transport like local trains in Mumbai and bus service will not be suspended, but only employees from the essential services will be allowed to commute.He urged people to eschew all non-essential travel.

Commenting upon the shortage being felt in critical, essential medical supplies of Remdesivir injections and medical oxygen need for critically ill Covid patients, the Chief Minister red-flagged the Centres directive asking the state to procure medical oxygen from faraway North-Eastern states and states like West Bengal. He said that it would take days for the state to maintain daily supply of medical oxygen through the road route which will take days to do so.

Thackeray said that the states own medical oxygen production capacity is 1,200 metric tonnes and current consumption is around 9,500 metric tonnes. He added that if the number of Covid patients keep on rising as they are now, this oxygen supply will fall short. He urged the Centre to allow the state to use the services of the Indian Airforce to airlift oxygen supplies from outside Maharashtra.

Stating that he would be writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the effect of the restrictions imposed on the marginalised, poor and daily wage workers, Thackeray stated that he would be urging the Prime Minister to declare it as a national natural calamity and consider giving relief package to the needy.

He also urged Centre to give extension of three months to small and medium traders to file their GST returns.

He added that the state government on its part will be providing subsidised ration of Wheat at Rs 3 per Kg and Rice at Rs 2 per Kg to those who are daily wage earners for a month. Thackeray further announced that the state governments subsidised Shivbhojan Thali for the poor will now be given free of cost to two lakh beneficiaries for the next one month.

Referring to the registered daily work force employed in sectors like construction, registered domestic workers, autorickshaw licensed permit holders, registered beneficiaries under various Central and State government welfare schemes, the Chief Minister stated that the government will give an allowance of Rs 1,500 for the next month and directly transfer that amount to their bank accounts through the Direct Beneficiary Transfer (DBT) mode. He said that an allocation of Rs 5,400 crores has been made for the purpose of ensuring that the daily bread of these workers does not suffer, while their daily work may be hit.

Commenting upon the shortage of the critical Remdesivir injection, he said that the shortage is being felt as the demand for the injection has suddenly increased as the state now daily requires 40,000 to 45,000 daily vails of the injection. The shortage is being felt because of the spike in Covid-19 cases. He said that he was given to inform by the Pharmaceutical companies producing the injection that it will take at least a week for fresh supplies to reach the market after the production has been ramped up.

He added that while hotels, restaurants and other wayside eateries will continue to remain shut, they shall only be allowed to offer take away home services at the counter. Thackeray further appealed to retired government service doctors and nurses, voluntary organisations to join in the governments war in containing the second wave of Covid-19.

The essential services, he said, will be operational from 7 in the morning till 8 in the evening. Hospitals, employees from medical field, vaccine makers, mask manufacturers, workers from animal husbandry department, warehousing, air service will be functional. Reserve Bank of India, banks, e-commerce, accredited journalists, cargo services will also be functional, he said.    

He said private establishments will be closed during this period. Unnecessary movement of people will be completely barred.

He argued that Maharashtra was able to contain the first wave of the pandemic last year and with the public going in for Janata Curfew, the state can surely contain this second wave. Referring to the “Tika Utsav” of the Centre between April 11 to April 14, he said that the Centre needs to ramp up the vaccination drive as it takes time for the immunity to build up.