Mumbai to continue level 3 of COVID-19 restrictions amid Delta Plus variant threat

Mumbai will continue to be in category 3 of the Maharashtra government's five-level unlock plan, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said.

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New Delhi: After Delta Plus variant cases were detected in Maharashtra which claimed one life, the state government decided to impose stricter restrictions. Mumbai, which has also reported cases of the new Delta mutant, will continue to be in category 3 of the Maharashtra government's five-level unlock plan, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said on Friday (June 25). 

The decision was taken in the wake of the Uddhav Thackeray-led government amending its five-level unlock plan implemented earlier this month. The government announced state-level trigger for imposing restrictions in administrative units irrespective of weekly positivity rate and oxygen bed occupancy percentage, PTI reported. This implies that all administrative units, including Pune and Thane, will be placed under a minimum of level 3 restrictions. 

“State-level trigger means that irrespective of the weekly positivity rate and oxygen bed occupancy, level 3 restrictions will continue in administrative units till the district disaster management authority takes a call to withdraw them,” a state government notification said. 

While announcing the decision, the BMC apprised that Mumbai has had an average positivity rate of 3.96 per cent and oxygen bed occupancy of 23.04 per cent over the last two weeks.

Check the guidelines for level 3 of unlock plan here: 

1. Essential shops and establishments can remain open till 4 pm on all days in areas falling under level 3 of the five-step unlock plan. 

2. Non-essential shops and establishments will continue to open till 4 pm on weekdays. 

3. Restaurants will be allowed dine-in facility with 50 per cent capacity till 4 pm on weekdays and takeaways and home deliveries can continue afterward. 

4. Suburban trains will only ply for medical staff and personnel engaged in essential services. 

5. Gyms and salons will remain open till 4 pm at 50 per cent capacity. 

On Friday, Maharashtra saw its first death from the new Delta strain, which has been labelled as ‘variant of concern’ by the Union Health Ministry. 

Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope said, "Out of 21 Delta Plus COVID-19 variant patients in Maharashtra, one 80-year-old with co-morbidities has died."

He added, “Other patients infected with the new variant are under treatment and recovering. All are in stable condition. Some of them have even recovered from the infection.” 

Delta Plus variant has been found in seven districts of Maharashtra including nine in Ratnagiri, seven in Jalgaon, two in Mumbai, and one case each in Palghar, Thane and Sindhudurg districts.

As per ANI, around 50 cases of Delta Plus variant of COVID-19 have been recorded across 11 states in India so far. States which have identified such cases include Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Gujarat, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir and Karnataka.