Maharashtra government after witnessing rising cases decided to extend the lockdown in hotspot locations like Mumbai, Pune, Malegaon, Aurangabad and Solapur until May 31.
On Thursday, the possibility of extending the lockdown was discussed in a meeting spearheaded by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and then the government intended to extend the lockdown till the month end as the state reports a whopping number of cases.
After a unanimous decision taken by the state government officials in a meet, a senior minister stated that the lockdown will be prolonged in certain parts of the state, especially in red zones/containment areas such as the Mumbai and Pune metropolitan regions, Malegaon and Solapur.
The guidelines in the remaining parts of the state will come in force after monitoring the situation before the lockdown 3.0 ends on May 17, the minister quoted.
Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Water Resources Minister Jayant Patil, Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde, Industries Minister Subhash Desai, Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat and PWD Minister Ashok Chavan were present in the meet directed by the chief minister.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his speech while addressing the nation on Tuesday, had announced that a fourth phase of the lockdown will soon be enforced after May 17th, but the norms are expected to have some relaxations unlike third phase.
According to a data from the survey Maharashtra had reported 1,602 fresh COVID-19 cases on Thursday, the highest single-day rise so far, consequently taking the state’s overall toll to 27,524. With 44 deaths registered in last 24 hours, the death toll in Maharashtra due to the deadly coronavirus disease has now crossed the 1000-mark and remains at 1,019.