The Maharashtra Government on Sunday decided to implement harsh restrictions including night curfew for containing the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic. The restrictions will be implemented from April 5 (from 8 pm) to April 30, a press statement issued by the Chief Minister’s office said. On Sunday, 57,074 new cases in the state were reported, taking the total number of active cases to 4.30 lakh. The statement said that private offices, restaurants, cinemas, crowded places will remain closed. The state administration has also  decided to impose a two-day lockdown from Friday night to Monday morning. While imposing these restrictions, care has to be taken not to affect the state’s economic cycle. Workers and labourers will not be harassed. Agricultural work, public, and private transport will continue. The e-commerce services will continue regularly from 7 am to 8 pm, but the home delivery staff will have to be vaccinated.   The State Government has also imposed section 144, which prohibits more than five persons from coming together from 7 am to 8 pm. At night from 8 pm to 7 am curfew will be imposed, only medical and other essential services will be excluded from these restrictions, the statement said. The statement said if it is noticed that people are crowding in these public places day after day without following the health rules, then the local administration can also close down the place. All shops, malls, market will be closed till April 30, except for groceries, medicines, vegetables and other essentials. Shopkeepers and staff in the shop of essential goods and services should complete the vaccination as soon as possible. Private offices will be required to work entirely from home. Only banks, stock markets, insurance, pharmaceuticals, mediclaim, telecommunications, as well as local disaster management, electricity and water supply offices will remain operational, the statement added. The Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray also spoke with leading business leaders via video conferencing and said that industries should call for only essential work force. In continuous process industries, workers should be given accommodation in the factories premises, wherever it is possible. Thackeray interacted with leading industrialist including Sajjan Jindal, Baba Kalyani, Harsh Goenka,  Nikhil Meswani, Uday Kotak and Ajay Piramal.

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