Another Lockdown in Maharashtra? Decision in 8-10 Days, Says Deputy CM Ajit Pawar

It must be noted that the state government has already postponed the reopening of schools in several districts including Pune and Aurangabad due to the sudden surge of COVID-19 cases.

New Delhi: In view of another massive spike of coronavirus cases in the middle of festivities, the Maharashtra government is contemplating on imposing another lockdown and a decision will be taken in 8-10 days, hinted state Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Sunday.

“There was a huge crowd during the Diwali period. Even at the time of Ganesha Chaturthi, we saw crowds. We are speaking to relevant departments. We’ll review the situation for the next 8-10 days and then the further decision will be taken about the lockdown,” Pawar said.

During Diwali, there was a huge crowd as if Corona itself died due to heavy crowd. Now there are predictions that 2nd wave may come. Govt has made a lot of regulations to start schools which includes different ways as to how they should be sanitized: Maharashtra Deputy CM https://t.co/P4VxVnZYhF

— ANI (@ANI) November 22, 2020

Ajit Pawar’s statement comes hours before Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray who is set to make an address this evening.

It must be noted that the state government has already postponed the reopening of schools in several districts including Pune and Aurangabad due to the sudden surge of COVID-19 cases.

Maharashtra reported a total of 5,753 coronavirus positive cases today, taking the state’s overall infection count to 17,80,208. The death of 50 patients took the fatality count to 46,623, the health department said. There are 81,512 active cases in the state at present.

Experts have said that the potential second wave maybe because of reverse migration post-Diwali, among other factors.

It must be noted that Maharashtra’s recovery rate is now 92.75 per cent, while the fatality rate is 2.62 per cent.