No exit-entry from containment areas as of now: Maharashtra govt

Mumbai: There will be no exit or entry of people from Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad amid the novel coronavirus outbreak till civic commissioners in these regions decide on containment zone boundaries, an order issued by the Maharashtra government said on Friday.
The second phase of the lockdown for the coronavirus outbreak is scheduled to end on May 3 though the situation in Maharashtra, with the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the country, continues to remain grim.

The order said outward movement from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad to other districts will have to be executed very carefully and shall not start till municipal commissioners decide on containment zone boundaries.

Extreme care is to be taken before allowing movement from other hotspot areas such as Malegaon, Solapur, Akola, Amravati, Yavatmal, Aurangabad and Nagpur, it added.

It said that a certificate from a registered medical practitioner that the one intending to travel does not have influenza-like symptoms will be sufficient for the purpose and separate screening will not be required.

The nodal authority sending persons to other districts will inform its counterpart there and movement will begin only after acceptance letter of the receiving nodal authority is issued.

The system of e-pass currently in use by Maharashtra police will be made available for this purpose to the nodal authorities, and appropriate changes are being made in the system, the order said.