MUMBAI (Reuters) – India’s richest state, Maharashtra, announced strict restrictions on COVID-19 on Monday, following a rapid rise in infections that now make up more than half of the country’s new daily cases.
An industrialist who attended a meeting with the chief minister before announcing the curbs to the quote said that “the situation is grim and there could be a lack of hospital beds, doctors and oxygen cylinders”.
He declined to be named, but comments are green to those of government officials and health officials to the Indian media on the state of the state, which includes the crowded financial capital of Mumbai.
The state will close shopping malls, cinemas, bars, restaurants and places of worship on Monday evening.
Authorities will also impose a complete blockade over the weekend, Nawab Malik, a state government minister, told reporters after a cabinet meeting.
Malik said the government will impose a statewide night extinguisher from 8pm to 7am on Monday, allowing only essential services to operate during those hours.
Millions of migrant workers travel from all over India to secure jobs in the western state, which accounts for about 16% of India’s economic output.
Maharashtra’s chief minister, Uddhav Thackeray, met with industrialists before announcing the restrictions, according to a statement from his office.
Malik said industrial operations, such as production and construction, will be allowed to continue as usual.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a summit on Sunday to review the situation of COVID-19 and the vaccination program.
The country reported 93,249 new cases in 24 hours by Sunday morning, according to data from the Federal Ministry of Health. Maharashtra, which accounts for less than a tenth of the population, has registered 49,447 new cases.
The state, according to the Ministry of Health, contributed 57% of all cases and 47% of deaths in the country in the last 14 days.
Ten matches in the Indian Premier League cricket tournament scheduled to be played in Mumbai on April 10-25 will continue as planned, despite the new boards, a local cricket official told Reuters.
The tournament, which is set to begin without spectators on Friday in six venues across the country, has already been hit, with two crickets giving positive results despite coronavirus protocols set up for participants.
India is behind the United States and Brazil in the largest number of infections in the world, with over 12 million cases and nearly 165,000 deaths since the outbreak.
Rajendra Jadhav in Satara and Abhirup Roy in Mumbai; Additional reporting by Sudipto Ganguly; Editing by Rupam Jain, Peter Graff and Alison Williams