Mumbai: Monday morning offered a glimmer of hope to the beleaguered restaurant owners in Mumbai, who have been suffering huge losses due to the unwillingness of the state government to ease the Covid-related curbs. Late yesterday, there was good news for the restaurant owners, as the state task force headed by Dr Sanjay Oak said that it had no objections to extend the dine-in timings as demanded by hotels and restaurants. An order to this effect will be issued after the SOPs are finalised.
However, the task force strongly recommended that the reopening of schools, scheduled for August 17, be pushed back. The task force said that reopening of schools should not be done in a hurry. It, in fact, recommended that schools be reopened only post Diwali.
The task force also recommended not reopening places of worship as of now, even as it made a strong point in ramping up oxygen facilities anticipating the third wave of Covid-19.
Barely 24 hours earlier, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar had announced large-scale measures for Pune, such as hotels and restaurants allowed to operate with 50% seating capacity till 10 pm on all days, and shopping malls open till 8 pm on all days (entry restricted to the fully vaccinated). Also, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had announced that all fully vaccinated people can board the local trains from August 15.
Meanwhile, State Chief Secretary Sitaram Kunte held two rounds of talks with railway authorities and will meet them again today to discuss the SOPs for resumption of local train services, the official said.