COVID-19: Uddhav Thackeray calls all-party meet; Mumbai streets wear deserted look during weekend lockdown

Empty road at Haji Ali junction in South Mumbai. Pic/Bipin Kokate

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday called an all-party meeting via video conference to review the current COVID-19 situation in the state.

This comes a day after Maharashtra recorded 58,993 new COVID-19 cases, 45,391 recoveries, and 301 deaths. Mumbai for the second consecutive day recorded fewer than 10,000 cases on Friday, but fresh fatalities jumped to 35 from 25 a day before.

The Maharashtra government has also imposed a strict weekend lockdown from Friday night till 7 am on Monday. The home delivery of food and essential supplies and movement of students taking various exams are allowed.

Streets near Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and headquarters of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation wore a deserted look during the weekend lockdown.

Reviewing the implementation of weekend restrictions, Mumbai Guardian Minister Aslam Sheikh said, "We will review the situation in fruit and vegetable markets, action will be taken if violations are found."

Meanwhile, India's COVID-19 tally hit a record daily high since the outbreak of the pandemic with over 1.45 lakh new infections being reported in a span of 24 hours, taking the cumulative count to 1,32,05,926, according to the Union Health Ministry.

The single-day rise in coronavirus cases breached the 1 lakh mark for the fourth consecutive day.

According to the ministry, the country recorded 1,45,384 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours.

As many as 9,80,75,160 people have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in the country.

From April 2, the government started vaccinating all people above 45 years. India started its vaccination drive on January 16 with priority given to all healthcare and frontline workers in the first phase. The second phase started on March 1 where doses were administered to people above the age of 60 and those between 45 and 59 years with specific comorbidities.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.