Omicron scare: Section 144 extended in Mumbai till December 31 to restrict Christmas, New Year’s celebrations
Amid rising Omicron scare, CrPC section 144 has been extended in Mumbai for 14 days, covering the period of Christmas and New Year.
The fear surrounding the spread of the Omicron variant has prompted local administrations to tighten their COVID-19 norms during the upcoming festival season, and the authorities of Mumbai have decided to follow a similar suit.
In an effort to control gatherings and prevent COVID-19 from spreading in the city, prohibitory orders under CrPC section 144 have been imposed in Mumbai from December 16 to December 31, a period covering Christmas and New Year eve.
This has been done in the wake of the number of Omicron cases in Maharashtra. The Mumbai police have decided to tighten security in the city after section 144 CrPC was imposed up to midnight on New Year's eve to prevent any large gatherings.
MIDC police Inspector Nasir Kulkarni, as quoted by ANI, said, “Will take action if Covid appropriate behaviour will not be followed by people." According to the order issued by Mumbai police, any gathering of more than five people has been banned in the city till December 31.
The official order of the authorities states, “All persons connected with the organisation of any programme, event etc as well as service providers and participants, visitors, guests, customers shall be fully vaccinated.”
Under the prohibitory orders of the local authorities, only people up to 50 percent of the capacity at a venue will be allowed to attend any event. The organizers, staff, and security personnel in the event must all be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
The CrPC section 144 imposition in Mumbai comes just a day after eight new cases of the Omicron variant were reported from Maharashtra, making it the state with the highest number of cases of the new COVID-19 variant across the country.
Till now, over 30 Omicron cases have been reported in Maharashtra. Maximum Omicron cases have been reported from Mumbai with a total of 13 infections, followed by 10 in Pimpri Chinchwad, two each in Pune Municipal Corporation, Osmanabad, and one each in Kalyan Dombivali, Nagpur, Latur, Vasai Virar, and Buldhana.