Mumbai, June 5: The Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday late night announced 5-level unlock plan to ease COVID-19 restrictions from June 7. As per the unlock process, the districts of the state have been divided into five levels, with level 1 having the least restrictions.  Relaxations will be implemented based on the positivity rate and occupancy of oxygenated beds in districts and cities. Thane District Adds 592 COVID-19 Cases, Death Toll Up by 38.

Those districts falling in "Level 5" will have strict near lockdown-like restrictions in place. Areas where the positivity rate is less than 5 percent and occupancy of oxygenated beds are below 25 percent are under level 1. Districts and cities under level 2 should have a positivity rate below 5 percent and oxygenated bed occupancy between 25 percent and 40 percent. Meanwhile, decision on local trains will depend on trend of these parametres in level 1.

Areas with COVID-19 positivity rate between five to 10 percent and or oxygenated bed occupancy of more than 40 percent falls under level 3. Meanwhile, in "Level 4", the positivity rate should be between 10 and 20 percent or oxygen bed occupancy of more than 60 percent. Areas under level 5 will have a positivity rate of more than 20 percent or occupancy of oxygen beds should be over 75 percent. COVID-19 Lockdown In States Across India: Maharashtra Extends Restrictions, Know About Other States.

Tweet by Maharashtra CMO: 

These are 18 districts in level 1. These are - Thane, Washim, Wardha, Buldhana, Chandrapur, Dhule, Gadchiroli, Gondia, Jalgaon, Yavatmal, Jalna, Latur, Nagpur, Nanded, Nashik and Parbhani. The level 2 will include districts –  Ahmednagar, Amravati, Hingoli and Dhule. Meanwhile, Akola, Beed, Kolhapur, Usmanabad, Sangli, Saytara, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg will be placed under the more stringent level-3 category of curbs. Mumbai, Pune and Raigad are in level 4 category.

In Level 1 and 2, all shops will remain open as per usual timings. Meanwhile, in level 3 and 4, shops will be closed at 4 pm on all days. In Level 5, shops are allowed to open till 4 pm only on weekdays. In Level 1, shopping malls and restaurants are allowed to open with no restrictions, while in level 2, only 50 percent occupancy is allowed. They will remain closed in Level 3, 4 and 5. For level 5, only takeaways are allowed. Government offices are also allowed in level 1 and level 2 with 100 percent occupancy. Shootings and outdoor sports are allowed in these levels.

Maharashtra witnessed a decline in COVID-19 infection in the past few days. The state reported 14,152 cases on Friday. However, Maharashtra registered 1,377 fatalities (289 fresh and 1,088 previous deaths), surpassing the previous peak of 1,320 deaths on May 23, taking the death toll to toll to 98,771. The state's COVID-19 tally rose above the 58 lakh level.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 05, 2021 09:44 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).