Maintaining social distancing will not be possible in local trains, therefore the trains will continue to ply for essential services staffers only.
In a significant move, the Maharashtra government has decided to lift all lockdown restrictions in half of the state's 36 districts from Friday, state Relief and Rehabilitation Minister Vijay Wadettiwar said here on Thursday.
However, important centres like Mumbai and Pune are not included in the list and shall continue with the existing restrictions. For the unversed, Mumbai is in the second phase of the unlock. As for local trains in Mumbai, people will be allowed to travel in local trains if the positivity rate is low in the city.
Earlier, it was reported that maintaining social distancing will not be possible in local trains, therefore the trains will continue to ply for essential services staffers only at the moment.
There are five districts in the second phase, 10 districts in the third phase, and two districts in the fourth phase. Reviews will be done for all the districts every week and their phase will change, keeping in mind, the situation.
As for the much-anticipated 'five-level unlock down plan', Wadettiwar said that it will be based on the weekly positivity rate of COVID cases and the status of oxygen-bed occupancy in the state, that is currently grappling with the second wave of the pandemic.
In the first phase, all lockdown curbs shall be eased in 18 districts with less than 5 percent positivity rate and oxygen-bed occupancy of 25 percent, the minister said.
The districts where the positivity rate is around 5 percent and oxygen-bed occupancy are within 25 percent are Thane, Aurangabad, Nashik, Jalgaon, Dhule, Nagpur, Latur, Nanded, Jalna, Parbhani, Buldhana, Bhandara, Gadchiroli, Chandrapur, Gondia, Wardha, Washim, and Yavatmal.
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 "Maharashtra announces 5-level unlock: BIG update on Mumbai lockdown and local train operations")
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