After a person with travel history to Philippines tested positive for coronavirus in Pimpri-Chinchwad and another from Ratnagiri with a tarvel history to Dubai, the total people to test positive for coronavirus in Maharashtra rose to 45 on Wednesday evening.
In Mumbai’s Kasturba Hospital, a 68-year-old woman tested positive for the novel coronavirus. This is the eight patient from the city. The woman had been in close contact with a patient who had tested positive two days ago and was admitted to the hospital.
With the number of coronavirus (Covid-19) cases touching 43 in the state, Maharashtra’s anti-coronavirus battle became even fiercer on Wednesday with more testing and quarantine facilities coming up, besides the all-out efforts implemented to avoid the challenge of keeping the crowd at bay in public areas and at workplaces.
After making repeated appeals for ‘work from home’, the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai has now warned of punitive action against those private companies which fail to implement 50 per cent staff norms or disallow work from home.
All beaches in Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg are near-deserted, as also the prominent hill stations in the Western Ghats, resorts, wildlife sanctuaries, tourist destinations etc.
All major places of worship like temples, churches, mosques-mausoleums and gurdwaras have shut their doors for devotees while some religious organisations and sects are now offering online prayers, namaz etc. to keep the crowd and the virus away.
The state has already elapsed into partial shutdown with all schools, colleges, malls, theatres, cinemas, gyms, swimming pools closed till March 31.
Now the locks are down on recreational activities like clubs, pubs, discos, bars, paan-cigarette vendors and some restaurants in Mumbai, Pune and Thane for varying periods as the ‘state versus virus’ battle intensifies.
Borivali station observes peace as there is absence of crowd due to coronavirus pandemic.