As the Covid-19 situation improved in most parts of the state, the Maharashtra Government on Wednesday announced the easing of the restrictions in as many as 14 districts, including Mumbai city, Mumbai suburban, Pune and Nagpur, with effect from March 4 (Friday).
As per the order issued on Wednesday, all shopping complexes, cinema halls, restaurants & bars, sports complexes, gyms, spas, swimming pools, religious places, theaters & auditoriums, tourist places, entertainment parks etc have been allowed to operate with cent per capacity in 14 districts, while there will be 50 per cent restrictions in other districts. The state government has identified 14 districts that form the List A on the basis of the following criteria: where first dose of vaccination is more than 90 per cent, where the second dose of vaccination is more than 70 per cent, where the positivity rate less than 10 per cent and where the bed occupancy of oxygen supported or ICU bed is less than 40 per cent. The 14 districts identified under the “A” list are: Mumbai city, Mumbai suburban, Pune, Bhandara, Sindhudurg, Nagpur, Raigad, Wardha, Ratnagiri, Satara, Sangli, Gondia, Chandrapur and Kolhapur.
The decision to ease Covid-19 restrictions was taken at the State Executive Committee (SEC) held on February 25, based on the inputs received from the State Health Department as well as the Covid-19 Task Force and the current situation in the state. The new eased restrictions will come into force from 0000 hours on March 4, 2022.
In the 14 districts, the state government has allowed resumption of offline (physical) classes in all academic institutions, subject to any orders of the concerned administrative department of Government of Maharashtra.
“Administrations of all academic institutions are encouraged to leverage hybrid model of imparting education though online and offline modes. All pre-schools as well as Aanganwadis can now be restarted physically as well. All these institutions, establishments shall scrupulously follow CAB,” the state government order stated.
The state government has allowed social, sports, entertainment, academic, cultural, religious, political, festival-related events, including those relating to Marriages and Funerals and other gatherings and congregations to 50 per cent capacity. However, if the attendance is more than 1,000 people, the organisers will have to seek permission from the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA).
While all home delivery services have been allowed in 14 districts, there will be no restrictions for inter-state and intra-state movement for fully vaccinated persons. For persons who are not fully vaccinated, inter-state movement is subject to production of negative RT-PCR test valid for 72 hours. There will be no need for any NOC for such travel, not required otherwise than for purposes of DMA.
All offices, including government and private, may function with full capacity, while all industrial and scientific institutions may function with full capacity.
On the issue of vaccination requirement at different places, the Maharashtra government has made full vaccination mandatory for the following category of people: all staff members of all the establishments that cater to public at large, all home delivery staff, all users of any public transport, all visitors to malls, theatres, auditoriums, tourist places, restaurants, sporting events and religious places, all staff members in any office or establishment, public or private that has a dealing with general public and all people engaged in any industrial activities.
The DDMAs will enforce requirement of fully vaccinated on any public service wherein there is a possibility of interaction with other citizens and wherein such interaction may cause spread of Covid 19 and wherein Covid Appropriate Behaviour (CAB) may not be effectively implementable.