Uddhav Thackeray urges Mumbaikars to follow Covid protocols as Maharastra begins unlock phase

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday urged Mumbaikars to to follow Covid protocol and take care of themselves as the state begins the unlock process. He made the statement during a virtual meeting with leading industrialists. The state government has announced a five-level plan to relax the coronavirus-induced restrictions in the state from Monday, based on the weekly positivity rate and the occupancy of oxygen beds. A notification to this effect was issued on Friday night. As per the "unlock" notification, areas with positivity rate of five per cent or less and oxygen bed occupancy of less than 25 per cent will be in the first category, and can open up completely. Whereas in the fifth category areas, with positivity rate of more than 20 per cent, only essential shops will remain open and office attendance will be capped at 15 per cent.

During the meeting, Mr Thackeray also said that the state should set an example before the country by showing that the industrial sector can function uninterrupted by following all COVID-19 norms during restrictions. "We should not let ourselves be knocked down by the virus," he said. "Neither a lockdown is required nor do we want to get knocked down by the virus. So all health related rules have to be followed," Mr Thackeray added. He said if there is a need to go for another lockdown after the possible third wave, there should be no impact on manufacturing. The virtual meeting was attended by Uday Kotak, Sanjiv Bajaj, B Thiyagrajan, Naushad Forbes, Amit Kalyan, Ashok Hinduja, A N Subramanyam, Ajay Piramal, Harsh Goenka, Niranjan Hiranandani, along with the state government's COVID-19 task force members Sanjay oak and Shashank Joshi. On Sunday, Thane and Navi Mumbai were included in category 2 of the Maharashtra government's five-level plan. Category 2 is for cities and districts where the positivity rate is 5% and oxygen bed occupancy is 25 to 40%.