PremiumMaharashtra, the worst-hit state by Covid-19, on Thursday announced a 5-level unlock strategy amid a steady decline in the daily cases of the coronavirus in the state.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government said that the Covid-induced restrictions will be lifted from tomorrow in 18 out of 36 Maharashtra districts where the positivity rate and oxygen bed occupancy have dipped considerably.
There are 18 districts categorised as Level 1. All restrictions will be lifted in those districts.
These 18 districts are -- Aurangabad, Bhandara, Buldhana, Chandrapur, Dhule, Gadchiroli, Gondia, Jalgaon, Jalna, Latur, Nagpur, Nanded, Nashik, Yavatmal, Washim, Wardha, Parbhani and Thane.
Maharashtra's capital Mumbai is on Level 2. Restrictions in Mumbai city will be relaxed partially, but the travel by local trains, the state capital's lifeline, would not be open to the general public as of now.
"We have prepared a 5-level unlock plan for the State on the basis of positivity rate and status of occupancy of oxygen beds in the districts. Districts with the lowest positivity rate will have no restrictions," Maharashtra minister Vijay Wadettiwar said.
The announcement was made by Wadettiwar after a meeting of the State Disaster Management Authority in Mumbai today.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra on Wednesday recorded 15,169 new Covid-19 cases, taking the tally to 57,76,184, and 285 fresh deaths and also added 268 previously unreported fatalities.
The statewide toll rose to 96,751, the state health department said.
The new cases were higher than 14,123 infections registered on Tuesday.
Nearly 29,270 Covid-19 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, pushing the number of recovered cases to 54,60,589, a statement from the health department said.
The state now has 2,16,016 active Covid-19 cases.
The coronavirus recovery rate marginally increased to 94.54% from 94.28% a day ago, while the fatality rate is at 1.67%.
The statement said 2,36,491 more people were tested for coronavirus in Maharashtra, taking the number of samples examined so far to 3,55,14,594.
There are 16,87,643 people in home isolation and 7,418 in institutional quarantine across the state, the department said.
Out of the 285 deaths, 211 occurred in the last 48 hours and 74 in the last week, it said.
As many as 268 deaths due to Covid-19 had taken place before the last week and they have been directly added in the cumulative figures as part of a data reconciliation exercise, the department said.
This means, the cumulative fatality count rose by 553 to 96,751, the department said.
Mumbai city reported 923 new cases and 31 deaths, taking its tally to 7,07,041 and the toll to 14,880, the department said.
The wider Mumbai division, including the city and its satellite towns, reported 2,616 infections and 50 deaths, pushing the caseload to 15,37,397 and the toll to 27,965, it said.
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