Maharashtra unlock: Government allows restaurants to remain open till midnight, shops till 11 pm

In a big announcement ahead of the festival of Diwali, the Maharashtra government, on Tuesday, announced that all restaurants and eateries in the state will be allowed to function till midnight. An official order from the state government read, "All restaurants and eateries may be allowed to function till midnight 12 am, and all other establishments that have been allowed to function by the government may be allowed to function till 11 pm."

The order signed by Chief Secretary Sitaram Kunte further read, "Local District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) may restrict these timings further if so deemed fit due to any local requirements but shall not relax it further without the consent of State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMA)." 

Check out the tweet shared by CMO Maharashtra. 

 October 19, 2021

The decision was taken during the festive season so that people don't crowd the space due to the shorter duration of operations that was in place earlier. In addition to this, the government, on Monday, also permitted the amusement parks to reopen in the state from October 22, however, water rides in amusement parks will remain suspended, as of now. 

Meanwhile, India, in the past 24 hours, recorded 13,058 new COVID-19 cases, the lowest one-day rise in 231 days. In another piece of good news, Mumbai, on Sunday (October 17, 2021), did not report even a single death due to COVID-19 for the first time since the pandemic hit in March 2020. 

Mumbai had reported its first coronavirus positive case on March 11, 2020, and its first death on March 17, 2020.