Maharashtra: Restrictions on movement from 11 pm to 6 am in Pune amid rise in COVID-19 cases

In view of a spike in COVID19 cases in Pune the district administration has decided to enforce certain curbs including restriction on movement of people from 11 pm to 6 am for nonessential activities a senior official said on SundaySchools colleges and private coaching classes will remain closed till February 28 while hotels and restaurants will have to shut their establishments by 11 pm every day Pune divisional commissioner Saurabh Rao told reportersCreation of microcontainment zones resetting up of COVID19 care centres increased contacttracing and testing and stricter implementation of norms for weddings and other social events are some of the steps which will be taken to stem the spread of the viral infection he saidThe decision to bring back some restrictions was taken in a meeting chaired by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar who is also the guardian minister of Pune on Sunday he saidOn Saturday the Pune division reported 998 new cases of coronavirus and nine deaths due to the viral infection The COVID19 tally in the division stood at 514319 and the death toll at 11698 as per official figuresRao said for the last three months the situation in the district was under control But now in view of the rise in COVID19 cases some decisions have been takenThere will be restrictions on the movement of people for nonessential activities between 11 pm and 6 am from Monday he saidEssential activities like newspaper distribution milk and vegetable supply and hospital emergencies have been excluded from the curbs he saidHotels bars and restaurants will have to close down by 11 pm from Monday onwards he saidThe decision has been taken as a precaution to control the movement of people who are roaming around unnecessarily he saidRao said as far as the positivity rate is concerned Pune district is at 12thposition in the stateThe average positivity rate in the district has now reached 10 per cent Fifteen days ago it was 4 to 5 per cent and now there is a need to revamp the standard operating procedures in the district he saidAs a precautionary measure schools and colleges in the district will remain closed till February 28A review will be done on Friday and according to the situation next strategy will be decided Rao saidPrivate coachings and classes where physical interaction is done will also remain closed till February 28 he informedHowever establishments like study centres where preparations for civil services examinations are conducted will operate with 50 per cent capacity the official saidRao said there will be some restrictions on weddings and other social and political eventsAt a social gathering a limit of 200 people was allowed but over a period as the situation became normal violations were seen he saidNow a decision has been taken to implement the cap of 200 people at weddings and social events in letter and spirit the official saidThere is no restriction on interdistrict movement but the administration expects people to follow lsquoCOVID appropriate behaviourrsquo while travelling he saidRao said in all the hotspots microcontainment zones will be created and a decision has also been taken to activate COVID19 care centres at the tehsil level in rural areasHe noted that in view of the increase in positivity rate the COVID19 testing also needs to be increasedCurrently the National Institute of Virology here has stopped the testing as they are occupied with genome sequencing We are taking help of other facilities to increase the testing in the district he saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever