Maha to impose fresh curbs in view of spike in Covid cases

The Maharashtra government has decided to impose fresh restrictions in the state to avoid crowding in view of the rising cases of COVID-19, and it will issue guidelines regarding these curbs, an official said on Friday.

The Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said in a statement late night on Thursday that the guidelines will be issued on Friday.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray held talks with the members of the state COVID-19 task force. They discussed the ways to avoid crowding during the Christmas and New Year celebrations, weddings and parties at hotels and restaurants, it said.

The statement said the meeting also discussed the restrictions imposed in other states and the spike in COVID-19 in USA and Europe.

The daily coronavirus case count in Maharashtra has been rising over the past few days.

The state on Thursday reported 1,179 new coronavirus cases, a day after it saw 1,201 new infections.

On Monday, the state had added 544 cases, while the next day it had logged 825 cases.

On Thursday, Maharashtra reported 23 cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, highest in a single day so far, which took the state's tally of such cases to 88.

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Goa's COVID-19 task force to meet today

In view of the growing threat of the Omicron variant of coronavirus in the country, Goa's COVID-19 task force will hold a meeting on Friday to discuss guidelines for Christmas and New Year celebrations, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has said.

Talking to reporters late night on Thursday, he also appealed to the tourism industry to abide by all the coronavirus-related protocols, especially during the festive season.

The tourism industry stakeholders should take all the precautionary measures to ensure that the virus does not spread in the state, he said.

"Although no case of Omicron infection has been detected in Goa so far, all necessary steps need to be taken during the festive season. A few states have imposed night curfew in view of the virus variant. But we need to make sure that we don't have to go undertake such measures," Sawant said.

The tourism industry should ensure adherence to COVID-19 norms, like social distancing and sanitisation, to prevent the spread of the virus.

The state has been testing international passengers arriving at the airport, he said, adding, "Those who test positive are isolated and other passengers who arrive with them are also monitored."