Maharashtra News: Restaurants and canteens in Maharashtra can now remain open till midnight. The Maharashtra government has allowed all restaurants and canteens to work till midnight. This was stated in an official notification issued by State chief secretary Sitaram Kunte on Tuesday.


The announcement came after Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had held a meeting with the State's Covid Task Force a day earlier and directed the officials to prepare guidelines to increase the hours of operation of restaurants and shops.


Additionally, the government has also decided to reopen amusement parks in the state from Friday, October 22.


However, water rides will still remain off limits for visitors at the parks.


''All restaurants and canteens are allowed to work till 12 midnight and other establishments which have been allowed to work can work till 11 pm,'' the notification said. The state government allowed entertainment parks, cinemas and theaters to be opened from October 22. However, water rides in entertainment parks are still not allowed. 


The BMC on Monday allowed auditoriums to reopen with Covid-19 guidelines from October 22 to hold cinema halls, theatres and cultural events in the city. In a circular, the civic body said that the SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) relating to reopening of these establishments, which were issued through three separate orders by the Maharashtra government, would be applicable to areas under the jurisdiction of BMC.


Last week, the Maharashtra government issued SOPs to reopen auditoriums for cinema halls, drama theatres and cultural events with 50 percent capacity across the state.


Maharashtra reported 1,485 new covid-19 cases on Monday, the lowest in the last 17 months. The total number of infected and dead in the state increased to 65,93,182 and 1,39,816, respectively. 28,008 patients are being treated in Maharashtra.