The Maharashtra government has decided to partially lift the lockdown and allow the resumption of business and industrial activity from Monday in areas where there are zero cases of coronavirus, or the numbers are not rising.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, in a televised address on Sunday, said that depending on the number of patients in each district, the State has been classified into red, orange and green zones. A limited number of activities would be allowed in ‘orange’ and ‘green’ zones.
Today, the wheels of Maharashtra’s economy are stuck in the mud of the pandemic, said Thackeray. However, the State should not successfully fight the coronavirus to only get into the bigger morass of a major economic slowdown, he said, adding that economic activities must therefore be resumed.
The State’s 36 districts have been split by its Public Health Department into 61 municipal and non- municipal areas for reporting cases. According to the latest published figures, Maharashtra has 3,648 patients, with the highest concentration of 2,268 patients in the Mumbai municipal region, followed by the Pune municipal area with 528 patients.
On the other hand, the municipal areas of Dhule, Sangali-Miraj, Latur, Nanded and rural areas of Jalgaon, Solapur, Aurangabad, Parbhani, Nanded, Amravati, Wardha, Bhandara, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli have no cases of coronavirus.
The Chief Minister said that the industrial units in the orange and green zones will operate but the workers will not be allowed to leave the premises. The raw material for industrial production and grain supplies for the workers would be provided at the site. Businessmen are being informed that they can commence production if they are willing to take care of their workers. However, no permission will be granted for inter-district travel until May 3.
He also said that 70-75 per cent of the patients in the State had very mild or no symptoms. He also appealed to people to not hide symptoms such as cough, cold or fever. They should immediately get themselves treated at fever clinics, he added.
A senior Maharashtra Government official told BusinessLine that the State administration will continue to mount a strict vigil on the situation and, if the number of patients increases in green and orange zones then the lockdown could again be implemented.