Mumbai: As many as 84 per cent of residents in Maharashtra want lockdown like restrictions to continue, according a survey conducted by LocalCircles. At the same time, around 43 per cent of the respondents in the survey also suggested permitting home deliveries of all goods to minimise business disruption and for customer inconvenience. A majority of respondents in a survey favoured curfew beyond May 14, the online social media platform revealed.

Now, in a letter to the Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, LocalCricles Founder and Chairman Sachin Taparia said, "With the current restrictions in Maharashtra in place till May 14, residents and small businesses from the state have been discussing the way forward on LocalCircles."

The survey was carried out in 30 districts of the state registered over 18,000 responses. At the same time, around 43 per cent of the respondents in the survey also suggested permitting home deliveries of all goods to minimise business disruption and for customer inconvenience.

Taparia said that based on hundreds of comments that were received, LocalCircles conducted a survey on the way forward regarding extension of restrictions. “With timely decisions taken by you (Thackeray) in regard to imposing restrictions, Maharashtra has been able to flatten the COVID-19 curve with Mumbai now becoming a case study for many metros on how to implement COVID-19 lockdowns successfully,” a letter read.

WHAT SURVEY SAID

Citing the findings of the survey, the letter further mentioned, “84 per cent of Maharashtra residents want lockdown restrictions to continue till May 31, while 43 per cent residents want home deliveries of all goods be permitted to minimise consumer inconvenience. Majority of the small businesses, as per the survey, are in favour of the government permitting them to operate in ''home delivery mode only'' to minimise business disruption.”

According to LocalCircles, there is a need for enabling businesses to operate in a contactless or via home delivery model only till the COVID-19 situation progresses gradually. Such a model will allow businesses to recommence some activity and end the disturbance to some extent while minimising consumer inconvenience, it added.

It is suggested that the Maharashtra government enables a mechanism where stores are allowed to operate in home delivery mode with no customer walk-ins permitted and orders only placed online, Taparia said in the letter. “I request you (CM Thackeray) to consider this public feedback and extend the lockdown/ restrictions in the state till May 31,” Taparia wrote.

While lockdown is the first response to curtail the spread of the infection and rightfully so, the above model will ensure business disruption, and consumer inconvenience is reduced, Taparia stated.

LOCKDOWN LIKE RESTRICTIONS TO BE EXTENDED?

Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope cautioned that the COVID-19 lockdown might be extended post May 15. To break the chain of COVID-19 transmission, the MVA (Maha Vikas Aghadi) government led by Uddhav Thackeray had enforced lockdown-style restrictions in the state from April 22 to May 1. Later, it was extended till May 15 amid to the surge in a number of COVID cases and the inclining death toll in the state. The government recently banned inter-city as well as inter-district travel during the lockdown period and had announced the closure of non-essential services in the state.

Tope, has said that the situation will be reviewed by the government and a final call on lockdown extension will be taken. “The state government is putting efforts on tracking, tracing and treating COVID-19 patients to curb the pandemic,” Tope added.

FLATTENING GRAPH IN MAHARASHTRA

In a major sigh of relief, Maharashtra’s COVID-19 cases and fatalities drop on Monday, according to the state health department.

Compared with 572 fatalities on Sunday, deaths went down to 549, taking the state's tally to 76,398. The number of new cases remained below the 50,000 level, declining from 48,401 on Sunday to 37,236 now, taking the total to 51,38,973.

Mumbai, the worst hit city in the state continued to be encouraging, with cases remaining below the 5,000 mark, at 1,782, as the tally went to 6,77,412. Daily fatalities rose up from 68 on Sunday to 74 now, taking the total deaths in India’s financial capital to 13,855 now.

For the ninth consecutive day, the state death rate remained stable at 1.49 per cent, while the number of active cases fell below the six lakh mark, to 5,90,818.

Meanwhile, 61,607 patients recovered- higher than the number of fresh cases- returned home, taking the tally to 44,69,425 now and the recovery rate gone from 86.04 per cent to 86.97 per cent now.