Covid Lockdown Extended In Maharashtra Till May 31; Vaccination Suspended For 18-44 Age Group

Maharashtra Lockdown Extended: The announcement come hours after the state cabinet ministers, in a meeting, opined to extend lockdown-like restrictions for further two weeks in the state, from May 16 to May 31.

Deserted street during a lockdown imposed in Mumbai. (Getty Image)

Maharashtra Lockdown Extended: In order to further contain the spread of Coronavirus infection, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra government on Wednesday extended the lockdown across the state till May 31.

The announcement come hours after the state cabinet ministers, in a meeting, opined to extend lockdown-like restrictions for further two weeks in the state, from May 16 to May 31.

The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra extended the lockdown-like curbs after state once again witnessed Covid-19 cases and fatalities rise on Wednesday with 40,956 new cases and 793 death in the last 24 hours.

The state government had earlier extended the lockdown-like restrictions till May 15.

Under the extended lockdown, the curbs which were placed earlier will remain in place across the state as recommended by the state task force. 

Though Maharashtra has shown a downward trend in daily cases, the state government is of the view that strict restrictions on the movement of people should continue.

18-44 Vaccination Suspended In Maharashtra

Meanwhile, coronavirus vaccination for those above 18 and below 44 has been suspended in Maharashtra from today due to shortage of vaccines.

All the doses purchased by the state government for the age group has been diverted for those above 45 years, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope after state cabinet meeting.

"There is a dearth of vaccines, hence we're considering holding off vaccination drive temporarily for 18-44 age group. 2.75 lakh vaccine doses are left for this age group that'll be now used for 45 years and above group. Administering the second dose is a priority,” Tope said.

Maharashtra Covid-19 Tally

Compared with 549 deaths on Monday, the state fatalities went up to 793, taking the toll to 77,191, while the number of new infections, though remaining below the 50,000 level, increased from 37,236 on Monday to 40,956, taking the tally to 51,79,929.

For the tenth day straight, the state death rate remained stable at 1.49 per cent, while the number of active cases dropped sharply from 590,818 to 558,996.