Prohibitory orders in Mumbai extended till September 30 amid rising COVID-19 cases

In view of rising cases of coronavirus COVID-19, the Mumbai Police have extended prohibitory orders restricting the movement of people in the city till September 30. However, no new restrictions have been imposed, the police stressed.

An official statement on September 16 read, "...it is considered expedient to issue prohibitory order for restricting any presence or movement of one or more persons in public places or gathering of any sort anywhere, including religious places to prevent further spread of the COVID-19 virus..."

"Mumbaikars, the current prohibition on presence or movement in public places under Sec. 144 CrPC, is an extension of the previous prohibitory order. No new restrictions have been imposed. All exemptions as per Govt. of Maharashtra guidelines to continue," tweeted the Mumbai Police.

Mumbaikars, the current prohibition on presence or movement in public places under Sec. 144 CrPC, is an extension of the previous prohibitory order.

No new restrictions have been imposed.

All exemptions as per Govt. of Maharashtra guidelines to continue — Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) September 17, 2020

"The order issued under section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure is a mere extension of our previous order (issued on 31st August) and no new-fresh restrictions have been imposed," said city police commissioner Param Bir Singh. The restrictions were extended to curb the spread of coronavirus, said a police spokesperson.

Social distancing (minimum of six feet between two persons) must be followed in public places, the orders said. "All movements of one or more persons in the area designated as Containment Zone by municipal authorities is prohibited, except for essential activities, the supply of essential goods and medical emergencies," the orders stated.

NO need to PANIC

The order issued under section 144 CrPC is only an extension of the previous order issued on 31st August.
No new restrictions have been imposed by @MumbaiPolice .

Please share and don’t panic. #Section144 #Mumbai — Aaditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) September 17, 2020

All movements of one or more persons in the city is prohibited, except for medical emergencies and emergency duties, government-semi government agencies and their officials on duty, the orders said, before listing further exemptions. Establishments providing essential services like food, vegetables, milk supplies, groceries, hospitals, medical shops, pathology laboratories and medical-nursing colleges, telephone-Internet services, electricity, petroleum, oil and energy-related entities are exempted.

Banks, stock exchange, clearing corporations, depositories, stockbrokers and SEBI registered participants operating through these institutions are too exempted. IT, IT-enabled services, media, ports, services providing home delivery of foods, groceries and essential commodities, E-Commerce activities are also exempted.

The activities exempted as per the orders issued on August 31 by the Maharashtra government regarding easing of restrictions and phase-wise opening of lockdown (`Mission Begin Again') will be allowed. Deputy Commissioners of Police of each zone can grant further exemptions whenever needed, the orders said.

Maharashtra Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray on Thursday asked Mumbai residents not to panic over the issuance of prohibitory orders in the city. No new restrictions have been imposed, he assured.

Thackeray tweeted this after the Mumbai police extended their orders issued under section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure till September end. Thackeray said it was a mere continuation of the previous order of August 31. "No new restrictions have been imposed by Mumbai police," he said.

Mumbai on Thursday reported 2,389 new COVID-19 cases, the highest single-day count so far, taking the tally to 1,78,275 on Thursday, news agency reported quoting the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said. Also, 43 more patients succumbed to the infection, pushing up the toll to 8,320, it said. The previous highest single-day case count was 2,371, reported on September 10.

According to the civic body's update, the city's active COVID-19 cases rose to 32,849, the highest in the past couple of months. The civic body said the number of recovered patients increased to 1,36,739 with 1,173 more patients discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours.

Mumbai has a recovery rate of 77 per cent, the BMC said. According to the BMC, Mumbai's average growth rate of COVID-19 cases is 1.24 per cent, while the average doubling rate is 55 days. Meanwhile, the number of sealed buildings, where at least one or more positive patients had been found, rose to 9,365, the civic body said. The count of containment zones in slums and chawls rose to 590, it said. The civic body has conducted 9.64 lakh COVID-19 tests so far.