MUMBAI: Bracing for a surge in Covid-19 cases brought on by the highly transmissible Delta-plus variant, Maharashtra has rolled back relaxations in districts and cities where theatres, malls, multiplexes had opened and private firms were permitted 100% staffing.
This includes Navi Mumbai, Thane, Nagpur, Pune.
The government has effectively done away with the first two levels of unlocking —Level 1 and 2—that offered the most relaxations, citing the potential threat of an “imminent” third wave which is expected to be “more severe”, according to an order by chief secretary Sitaram Kunte on Friday.
This does not change anything for Mumbai, though, which is at Level 3 despite being eligible for Level 1.
All districts and cities in Level 1 or 2 will slip to 3.
Irrespective of indicators like weekly positivity rate and oxygen bed occupancy, unlocking will now be only at three levels, starting with 3 at the easiest and going up to level 5.
Those at level 4 and 5 will continue to face the restrictions applicable.
Most cities in MMR will be at level 3, except places in Raigad district which were at 4 last week.
Going by indicators last week, there were 25 districts in the state eligible for level 1, 8 at level 3 and 3 at level 4.
“This revision has been done in the wake of the emergence of the Delta-Plus variant and the advisory received from the Centre and the state task force.
The Delta-Plus variant is a huge cause of concern and we cannot afford to take it leniently,” said Aseem Gupta, relief and rehabilitation secretary.
The order says new variants like Delta, Delta-Plus, may precipitate a more severe third wave in 4-6 weeks across a wider geographical area.
So far, 21 cases of the Delta-Plus variant have been reported from Maharashtra—nine in Ratnagiri, seven in Jalgaon, two in Mumbai and one each in Thane, Palghar and Sindhudurg.
“A big problem this time is that the public was just not co-operating.
Crowding, no adherence to health norms were being reported on a large scale,” said an official.
To make the mechanism stricter, the government will allow ranking to shift to an easier level only after a declining trend is observed for two weeks.
Earlier, decisions were based on a week’s data.
However, to tighten, a two-week period may not be considered and districts will not require permission from the government to impose fresh restrictions.
Also, to determine the weekly positivity rate, only RT-PCR tests will be taken into account and not antigen or other tests, which throw up more false negatives.
“We saw that just to bring down the numbers, many districts were doing random mass antigen tests which defeat the purpose.
We’ve directed districts to not play around with numbers just to be on a lower level with others,” said an official.
Districts have also been asked to make efforts to get 70% of their eligible population vaccinated, especially encourage work place vaccination.
Also, to tackle violation of Covid-appropriate behavioural (CAB) norms, flying squads will be sent to places like marriage halls and restaurants.
Dr Rahul Pandit, a member of the state task force on Covid-19, said the revision in guidelines is not surprising.
“The five-point formula to unlock is a dynamic process… at the moment, cases are coming down but not fast enough.
There is a threat of the Delta-Plus variant,” he said.