Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has strictly asked hotels and restaurants in the state to ensure strict adherence to Covid-19 protocols in their premises and not force the government to impose drastic measures like lockdown.
The Chief Minister was speaking at a virtual meeting on Saturday attended by representatives of hotel and restaurant associations and shopping centre groups when he said a "lackadaisical" attitude towards Covid norms was being witnessed lately.
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"Do not force us to impose a strict lockdown. Consider this as the last warning. Follow all the rules. Everyone has to realise there is a difference between self-discipline and restrictions," Thackeray said.
Since the economy was opened up in a phased manner from October, CM Thackeray noted that crowds had increased in most places and safety rules were not being adhered to leading to a concerning surge in cases.
"Last week, a Central team visited Mumbai and one of the members told me no one was wearing masks or following social distancing at a hotel they visited. Initially, hotels, restaurants were adhering strictly to COVID-19 norms, but now everyone has become lackadaisical," he said.
He emphasized that the state government is not in favour of a lockdown to tackle the latest Covid situation and has hence asked people to cooperate so that such a drastic decision is not needed to be taken.
Mumbai municipal commissioner IS Chahal recommended that the hotel and restaurant associations organise flying squads to review if norms were being followed. These association also said that member establishments not adhering to rules will be removed, while shopping centre representatives suggested they could deploy "COVID marshals" to check people in malls, while entry into food courts will be restricted.
Meanwhile, as per the latest Covid-19 tally, Maharashtra has reported 15,602 new cases while 7,467 people recovered, and 88 succumbed to the infection in the last 24 hours. Total Coronavirus cases in the state are 22,97,793; Total recoveries: 21,25,211; Death toll: 52,811 and Active cases stand at 1,19,771.
(With Agency Inputs)