Maharashtra Eases Covid Curbs in Two Cities Hotels, Restaurants Allowed

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Maharashtra eases Covid curbs in two cities hotels,

restaurants allowed till 10PM. Details here

Updated: 08 Aug 2021, 07:09 PM IST

Covid relaxations: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Sunday announced some more relaxations for two cities, Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad.

In these two cities, he said all shops will remain open till 8 pm for six days a week. He also said that all hotels, restaurants will be allowed to operate with 50% seating capacity till 10 pm on all days. "All relaxations to be effective from 9th August," the chief minster said.

In Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad, shopping malls will remain open till 8pm on all days but entry will be only allowed to those who're fully vaccinated. "Complete staff in the mall must be vaccinated. Indoor and outdoor activities/sports will remain open on all days," the Deputy Chief Minister said.

On Saturday, former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had said that restrictions on account of the pandemic in Pune should be relaxed as they are affecting businesses and commerce. The trader community in the city and even employees of shopping malls have been demanding that shops and other establishments be allowed to remain open till 8 pm instead of 4 pm.

"There should be strict restrictions in the cities where the infection positivity rate is above five per cent. But for the last one month, Pune's positivity rate is below five per cent. The state government should relax restrictions. Businesses are already suffering losses," the former chief minister had said.

Earlier, the state government had relaxed Covid curbs in 14 districts. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will address the state today at 8PM. It is expected that he might announce some more relaxations for more segments for Mumbai locals.

On Saturday, Thackeray had said that his government was planning to relax more curbs in the coming days and would also take a call regarding the local train travel.

"The Maharashtra government is going to grant more relaxations, but we are taking every step cautiously. A decision will be taken for local train passengers as well. We need to ensure that these relaxations do not trigger another wave of Covid," the chief minster said.