Mumbai: On expected lines, Maharashtra on Sunday extended the ongoing lockdown for the fourth consecutive period till May 31, an official announcement said here.

The order, issued by Chief Secretary Ajoy Mehta said that since the state is threatened with the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, it was expedient to extend the lockdown across Maharashtra till midnight May 31.

This consecutive lockdown since March 24 would enable the government to undertake various emergency measures to prevent and curb the spread of the virus.

Maharashtra is the country’s worst-hit by the pandemic, recording 30,706 cases and 1,135 fatalities, and Mumbai has become the worst hotspot with 696 deaths and 18,555 patients to date, and counting.

Officials said further details of the lockdown order would be made available later.

TN extends lockdown

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami on Sunday extended the Covid-19 lockdown till May 31 subject to certain relaxations in the restrictions.

In a statement issued here, Palaniswami said based on the views expressed by a medical expert committee, district collectors and senior ministers, the lockdown has been extended till the midnight of May 31.

He said some relaxations have been made only for 25 districts — Coimbatore, Erode, Salem, Tiruppur, Namakkal, Karur, Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Tenkasi, Kanyakumari, Theni, Madurai, Sivaganga, Virudhunagar, Ramanathapuram, Dindigul, Pudukkottai, Trichy, Tiruvarur, Thanjavur, Nagapattinam, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Vellore and Niligiris.

The relaxations are:

* No e-pass needed to ply vehicles within the district;

* For inter-district travel e-pass is needed;

* Not more than 20 passengers in the case a bus, seven persons in the case of a van, three in a sports utility vehicles and two persons in a small car operated by private companies or for government work;

* Taxis can be hired without e-pass for intra-district travel for emergency;

* 100 per cent workforce allowed for MNREGA work;

* For factories located outside Chennai, 100 per cent workforce is allowed for factories with less than 100 workers and for factories with over 100 workers, the workforce allowed is 50 per cent of the total workers subject to a maximum of 100 workers;

* Valuation of 12th standard exam papers will be allowed;

* Coaching for national and international sporting events is allowed with the permission of district collectors and

* In the 12 districts where intra-district transport is not allowed, plying of taxis and autorickshaws is allowed with e-pass for medical emergencies only.

Palaniswami said the government will announce further relaxations once the coronavirus spread is reduced.

He said action is being taken to bring back Tamils stranded in other states by train in stages and with Central government permission two Rajdhani Express trains between New Delhi and Chennai will be operated per week.

According to Palaniswami all other restrictions that are currently on will continue till further orders.

Train/air/bus services with the permission of Central and state government will be operated.

Telangana
Telangana was the first state in the country to extend lockdown till May 29. Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao had announced the continuation of existing restrictions till the remainder of the month within a few days after the Centre decided to extend the nationwide lockdown till May 17.

Mizoram
The Mizoram government also extended the lockdown till May 31. The decision was taken after various political parties and several organisations, including those of NGOs, churches and doctors, favoured extension of the lockdown at a meeting on Thursday, an official told PTI.

As of now, Mizoram has one active case while one patient has recovered. No death has been recorded in the state.

Punjab
Beginning May 18, Punjab will lift the curfew but will continue with the lockdown till May 31 with maximum possible relaxations, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had said on Saturday.

“From May 18, there will be no curfew in the state. But the lockdown will be there till May 31. Most of the shops and businesses will be allowed to open. We will give more relaxations. Select public transport will also start plying on roads from Monday onwards,” Amarinder said in a live Facebook interaction as part of his #AskCaptain initiative.

He said the containment zones will be sealed to enable the resumption of economic activity in non-containment areas, he said, adding that lockdown details will be announced by Monday after going through guidelines of the Centre.

Amarinder, however, made it clear that the educational institutions will remain closed.