Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray discusses COVID situation, mulls mask rule in Mumbai local trains

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday discussed the COVID-19 situation with senior government officials and explored the possibility of making face masks mandatory again in Mumbai suburban trains in view of the rising cases.

An official statement issued by the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said that Thackeray reviewed the prevailing COVID-19 situation in the state, which has been recording a steady rise in new infections, especially in Mumbai and some other big cities.

The statement said that the chief minister, at a virtual meeting with senior bureaucrats, also discussed the possibility of making face masks mandatory for suburban train commuters. The mask mandate option was discussed as a measure to curb growing cases of the novel coronavirus infection in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), it said.

Maharashtra withdrew its mandatory mask rule in early April and made it optional in view of a sharp drop in daily cases. "Coronavirus cases are on the rise in the state, chiefly in Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Raigad and Palghar districts. People should follow COVID-19-appropriate behaviour on their own," the CM was quoted as saying in the statement.

Maharashtra recorded 4,205 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, a day after breaching the 5,000-mark. Of the new cases, Mumbai alone reported 1,898 infections. The number of active cases has gone past 25,000, indicating a widening gap between new patients and those recovering from the infection.