Lockdown in Maharashtra will be imposed again if daily COVID cases rise, warns CM Uddhav Thackeray

The CM said that the state will be put under lockdown if there is a spike in daily COVID-19 cases and taking into account the availability of oxygen. The Chief Minister also paid tributes to COVID-19 warriors and citizens who lost their lives to the viral infection.

Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has warned that lockdown may be re-imposed if there is a spike in daily COVID-19 cases. The Chief Minister while saying that most of the COVID-19 restrictions are now being relaxed added that the COVID threat is far from over. 

“New strains of the virus are being detected in other countries...We have to take care that the threat doesn't hit us," he said.

The CM said even though medicines and vaccines are available, "there is still a shortage of oxygen". "We are easing restrictions based on the availability of oxygen. I appeal to citizens to follow COVID-19-appropriate behaviour," the Shiv Sena chief said.

Thackeray made these remarks during his address after unfurling the national flag at the state secretariat 'Mantralaya' on the country's 75th Independence Day on Sunday.

He said that the state will be put under lockdown if there is a spike in daily COVID-19 cases and taking into account the availability of oxygen. The Chief Minister also paid tributes to COVID-19 warriors and citizens who lost their lives to the viral infection.

Thackeray said the state was fighting COVID-19 with determination and the vaccination drive against the disease was also being expedited. Thackeray also paid tributes to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, saying the warrior king sowed the seeds of the struggle for independence from foreign rule.