Aug 15: Fully vaxxed citizens get freedom to board locals

Mumbai: In a major relief to office-goers and others who need to commute within the city and its vicinity, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said on Sunday that the general public would be allowed to board local trains from August 15, Independence Day, provided they had completed 14 days since their

full vaccination

against

Covid-19

.

There would be an app-based pass for suburban train travel and an offline method to obtain the pass for those without a smartphone, said Thackeray in an address to the state on social media.

He appealed to private offices to implement a system of staggered working hours to avoid crowding at the workplace as well as in trains.

About 19 lakh people in the city have been fully vaccinated so far.

On easing of curbs at places of worship and providing further relaxations to hotels, restaurants and malls in the state, the chief minister said a decision would be taken in the days following a review meeting with the State Covid Task Force on Monday.

“A decision on hotels, restaurants, malls and places of worship will be taken in the next eight to ten days,” Thackeray said. “However, people should follow Covid-appropriate behaviour as Covid has not been eliminated yet. We can stop the third wave of Covid by adhering to social distancing norms, wearing masks and washing hands regularly.”

Last Monday, the state allowed malls, gymnasiums, yoga centres, salons, beauty parlours and spas to reopen with 50% capacity.

In that announcement, it permitted shops and establishments to remain open till 8pm on weekdays and till 3pm on Saturdays in 22 districts. In the city, the BMC allowed shops and establishments except malls to remain open till 10pm on all days but permitted hotels and restaurants to operate only till 4pm through the week.

In his latest address, Thackeray cautioned that lockdown-like restrictions could be imposed again if Covid-19 cases increased and if a third wave of the pandemic hit the state.

On the app-based passes for local train travel, the chief minister said fully vaccinated people would be able to upload their details and use a QR code to download the pass. He said people who do not have smartphones could obtain their passes from BMC ward offices or railway stations on furnishing relevant information.

Thackeray’s announcement came a couple of days after the BJP held protests in the city on Friday tom press for opening of local train travel for ordinary people who had been fully vaccinated.

After the Covid-19 restrictions began in March last year, the state had last allowed the general public to board local trains from February 1 this year, but with staggered timings.

The general public was

allowed to board trains

in non-peak hours, that is, before 7am, between noon and 4pm, and from 9pm till the last local of the day.

When Covid-19 cases again rose dramatically, it brought the train travel restriction back in April.

During the pre-pandemic period, there were about 80 lakh commuters daily on the suburban train services run by the Western Railway and Central Railway.

Thackeray also expressed concern about some districts that still have a high positivity rate, such as Pune, Ahmednagar, Solapur, Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara, Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri and Beed.

In Raigad and other districts where there were floods and landslides last month, Thackeray said more care needs to be taken there to ensure Covid-19 cases do not spike.