COVID: Decision on weekend curfew likely by tonight, says Mumbai Mayor

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 7 (ANI): Amid the massive surge in COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra, Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar on Friday informed that a decision regarding weekend curfew might be taken by tonight after a review meeting.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, National Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and state Health Minister Rajesh Tope will likely make a decision regarding weekend curfew by midnight.
Addressing a press conference here, Pednekar said, "No decision yet on weekend curfew. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair a review meeting via video conferencing with Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray this evening on the COVID-19 situation."
Apprising that the Chief Minister does not think that a lockdown should be imposed, Pednekar further said, "But, people are still not serious and are not wearing masks. People must follow all COVID19 SOPs."
Since a lot of tourists visit Mumbai during the weekend, and the maximum surge in COVID cases is usually registered during that time, Pednekar said that a decision on weekend curfew is likely.
"Today, there could be a decision on seating capacity to be allowed for restaurants, hotels etc," she added.
Meanwhile, Twenty staff members of Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil tested positive for COVID-19 today.
Mumbai reported 20,181 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, taking the positivity rate to 29.90 per cent. With these, Mumbai's tally of COVID-19 cases jumped to 8,53,809, while the tally of active cases stood at 79,260 on Thursday.
The overall growth rate of COVID-19 cases in Mumbai is 0.99 per cent and the doubling rate of patients is 70 days.
As per BMC, a total of 67,000 test samples were collected of which 20,181 were tested positive yesterday.1,170 patients were hospitalised on Thursday. 106 patients are on Oxygen out of total hospitalised patients.
Out of 35,594 available beds, only 5,998 are occupied by the patients so far. Only 16.8 per cent of beds are occupied out of the total available beds. (ANI)