Section 144 imposed in Mumbai to check rising COVID-19 cases

Mumbai police on Wednesday (July 1) imposed section 144 of CrPC prohibiting movement of people in public places and gatherings, to prevent spread of COVID-19, an official said.

The prohibitory order, issued by a senior police official, says restrictions on movement of residents for non- essential work will remain in force till July 15.

The order prohibits “presence or movement of one or more persons in public places or gathering of any sort”, the official said.

On Tuesday (June 30), Maharashtra’s coronavirus case tally rose to 1,74,761 with addition of 4,878 new patients while the death toll mounted by 245, including 57 fatalities in Mumbai, to 7,855, state health department said.

This is for the first time in the last five days that the number of the average daily cases has fallen below 5,000 in the state.

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A total of 1,951 coronavirus patients were discharged during the day, taking the number of the recovered cases in the state to 90,911. There are 75,995 active cases in Maharashtra now.

A total of 9,66,723 people have been tested for coronavirus infection and 18.07 per cent of them have tested positive. Of the 245 deaths being added to the tally, 95 had occurred in the last 48 hours, the department said.

The fatality rate stands at 4.49 per cent while the state recovery rate is 52.02 per cent.

Mumbai reported 57 deaths and 893 new cases in the day. A total of 5,78,033 people are currently placed under home quarantine while 38,866 others are in institutional quarantine, it said.

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Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) reported 3,075 new cases in the day. Pune city reported 816 new cases in the day and Aurangabad 128 new cases.

The COVID-19 figures in Maharashtra are as follows: positive cases 1,74,761, deaths 7,855, recoveries 90,911, active cases 75,995, and people tested so far 9,66,723.

(With inputs from agencies)