As the third phase of lockdown is nearing its end, the Maharashtra government has decided that it would continue the restrictions for Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Pune and other hotspots till May 31.
As mentioned in a report in Mumbai Mirror, the Maharashtra government has decided to extend the lockdown restrictions for areas with a large number of cases but will opt for the Centre's new guidelines for the rest of the districts. The decision to extend the lockdown was taken on Thursday morning at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat, Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde, PWD Minister Ashok Chavan and Chief Secretary Ajoy Mehta also attended the meeting at the mayor's bungalow.
Municipal Commissioner IS Chahal, who is also the disaster management chief, told the daily if the lockdown is not continued beyond May 18, BMC's efforts to curb the spread of coronavirus would go waste.
Thackeray had earlier hinted the lockdown in the state might be extended till the end of the month as experts advised him the number of cases was expected to rise the most in May.
Meanwhile, areas under BMC saw an increase of 998 cases on Thursday, as mentioned by the daily. Seventy cases were reported in Thane, 64 in Navi Mumbai, 21 in Mira Bhayander and six in Kalyan-Dombivali. Forty-six deaths were reported in MMR on the same day. Maharashtra has reported 27,524 cases of coronavirus, with 6,059 recoveries and 1,019 deaths.