Nagpur city will continue to remain under Covid-19 restrictions, with some “partial relief”, till March 31. The restrictions were initially enforced for the period from March 15 to 21. This was announced by District Guardian Minister Nitin Raut on Saturday after holding detailed discussions with opposition leaders, traders, officials and journalists.

Among those who attended the meeting were Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, Leader of Opposition in Legislative Assembly Devendra Fadnavis, several ruling and opposition party MLAs, MPs, Nagpur Mayor Dayashankar Tiwari and all senior officials of departments concerned.

Refraining from calling it a “lockdown”, Raut said the term was earlier used to instil a sense of seriousness among people. “But now we have decided to extend the restrictions, due to continued rise of Covid cases in the city, till March 31. There will, however, be certain relaxations… all shops, apart from those delivering essentials, will be allowed to remain open till 4 pm. Restaurants will remain open till 7 pm while home delivery by online bookings will remain open till 11 pm,” said Raut.

Religious congregations have also been banned with shrines asked to remain shut.

Raut further said that Nagpur district has set a target of 6.87 lakh vaccinations. “It will be achieved at the rate of 40,000 per day by increasing centres in rural parts,” he added. The minister also said that samples of the virus have been sent to Delhi’s National Communicable Diseases Centre to check if the city has been infested by a new variant of the disease.

He also warned that those supposed to be isolated at home will be monitored through CCTVs installed in the city and would be lodged in the government isolation centres if found violating rules.

Gadkari and Fadnavis said they will do everything possible to help mitigate the Covid-19 crisis in the city.