In his address to the state today evening, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said that the possibility of a lockdown in the state cannot be ruled out if coronavirus cases continue to register an increase. He said it was a Catch-22 situation as the state government has to look at both economy and the people’s health. “I am not announcing a lockdown but warning about it,” the chief minister said.

He went on to say that he was looking for alternatives to a complete lockdown and would do so in the coming one or two days after discussing the present COVID-19 situation in the state with the sector experts. The state government is likely to announce new restrictions within the next two days.

 As of April 2, Maharashtra reported the highest daily new corona cases at 43,183. This was followed by Chhattisgarh with 4,617 cases while Karnataka reported 4,234 new cases. 

Five states — Maharashtra, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, and Punjab — cumulatively account for 77.91 per cent of the total active cases in the country, reads a press release by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. 

Meanwhile, Maharashtra alone accounts for nearly 60 per cent of the total active caseload of the country. 

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Some districts in Maharashtra have already announced partial or a complete lockdown. For instance, today on April 2, Saurabh Rao, divisional commissioner of Pune, announced bars, hotels, restaurants will remain closed for seven days. Only home delivery will be allowed. No public function, except funerals and weddings will be allowed; maximum 20 people in funerals and 50 in weddings are allowed. 

This order will come into effect from tomorrow, April 3. Meanwhile, there is also a 12-hour night curfew from 6 pm to 6 am in Pune from tomorrow. Religious places will be completely closed for the next seven days. 

Night curfew from 8:00 pm to 7:00 am (next day) has been imposed across Maharashtra from March 28 last month. Lockdown was imposed in Nanded from March 25 to April 4. A complete lockdown was imposed in the Beed district from March 26 to April 4.

Whereas Maharashtra chief minister has announced possibility of a lockdown across the state, the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has ruled out any lockdown in the state. In today’s press briefing, Kejriwal said that there’s no plan to impose any lockdown in Delhi as of now. If there’s a need to do any such thing in future, we will first consult with you and take a decision, he said. 

Today, April 2, India has recorded the highest single-day spike in COVID19 cases. The country has registered 81,466 new cases in the last 24 hours. Additionally, 469 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours. At 249, Maharashtra saw the maximum casualties. It is followed by Punjab with 58 deaths.

Also Read: Ripple effect of COVID-19’s second wave in India being felt across the globe