Lockdown next in Maharashtra? Uddhav Thackeray government imposes night curfew from March 28 as COVID cases surge

The Maharashtra government has imposed a night curfew in the state from March 28 amid a huge spike in COVID-19 cases. The announcement was made by the Chief Minister's Office. Earlier, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray held a high-level meeting through video conferencing to review the situation in corona in the state. The meeting was attended by senior doctors from all divisional Commissioners, collectors, SP and district hospitals.

The aim of the meeting was to evolve a further strategy in view of the increasing cases of corona in the state. A night curfew has been announced to ease congestion across the state from Sunday (March 28) onwards.

"I do not wish to impose lockdown. But there seems a possibility of healthcare facilities falling short given the rise in number of coronavirus patients," Thackeray was quoted as saying.

India's COVID-19 reached 11,846,652 million as the country finds itself  amid a second wave of the pandemic. There were 59,118 new cases in the last 24 hours, as per the Union ministry of health and family welfare (MoHFW) dashboard on Friday morning. Maharashtra continued to be the epicentre of the surge, as the state recorded 35,952 new cases on Thursday, its highest since the beginning of the pandemic.