A night curfew will be imposed in Maharashtra from Sunday amid the sharp increase in coronavirus cases, ANI reported. Malls have been ordered to remain shut from 8 pm to 7 am

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray ordered the curfew after a meeting with the divisional commissioners, superintendents of police, district collectors and deans of medical colleges to review the situation in the state, PTI reported.

Thackeray told the officials that he did not wish to impose a lockdown in the state. “But there seems a possibility of healthcare facilities falling short given the rise in number of coronavirus patients,” was quoted as saying by PTI.

Thackeray warned that the restrictions could get stricter if the people do not follow coronavirus guidelines. He also directed officials to ensure that there are plenty of hospital beds and medicines available.

On Friday, Nagpur district alone reported more than 4,000 new cases. This took the overall count there to 2,11,162.

Maharashtra has emerged as the top contributor to India’s coronavirus surge. The country registered 59,118 new coronavirus cases on Friday, taking the overall count to 1,18,46,652. This is the first time since October 17 that more than 59,000 new infections were recorded in a day. With 257 deaths, the toll rose to 1,60,949.

Maharashtra had on Thursday registered 35,952 new coronavirus cases – its highest one-day count since the beginning of the pandemic. The state recorded 111 deaths in the last 24 hours.

The state’s overall count rose to 26,00,833, while the toll went up to 53,795. As many as 22,83,037 people in Maharashtra have recovered from the infection.

Mumbai also registered 5,504 new coronavirus cases in a single day for the first time since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in India. The new cases pushed the city’s total count to 3,80,115.