A day after Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said he was not in favour of imposing a night curfew to curb COVID-19, he announced night curfew in the State till January 5 against the backdrop of a new, highly infectious coronavirus strain hitting the United Kingdom.
This decision was taken at an emergency meeting convened by the Chief Minister at his official residence, Varsha to take stock of the emerging situation.
“The State will be on high alert from today. A 14-day institutional quarantine has been made mandatory for passengers arriving in Maharashtra from European and Middle Eastern countries. They will also have to undergo RT-PCR test on the fifth or seventh day after their quarantine period,” he said.
The State also decided to impose curfew in the municipal areas from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. from Tuesday, and will remain in force till January 5.
Chief Secretary Sanjay Kumar, the principal advisor to the CM, Mumbai Municipal Commissioner I.S. Chahal, Mumbai Police Commissioner Parambir Singh, and principal secretary, health, Dr. Pradeep Vyas were among those who attended the meeting, along with other senior officials.
While making institutional quarantine for all passengers coming from Europe and the Middle East mandatory for 14 days after landing at the airport, passengers from other countries will have to be in home quarantine.
“Owing to this new strain, additional precautions are being taken. We have to be more vigilant for the next 15 days,” Mr. Thackeray said, adding that the virus was spreading rapidly across Britain and that its lethality would be known in the next few days.
The Chief Minister directed municipal commissioners to arrange hotels and independent hospitals for quarantining passengers near international airports.
He also asked authorities to set up a separate hospital for passengers from Europe if they had symptoms of the new virus strain.
“Passengers from other countries will be checked, their hands stamped and they will have to be in home quarantine. All airport staff checking passengers from European countries and the Middle East will be provided PPE kits,” Mr. Thackeray said.
The CM said that those travelling from Europe and the Middle East should inform authorities if they had flown within the country.
He said a meeting of all district collectors and municipal commissioners of Maharashtra would be held in light of the new situation in the U.K. He also stressed upon strict adherence to regulations at weddings.
