Aaditya Thackeray told that there is a large floating population in Maharashtra.
New Delhi:
Maharashtra needs to be more careful than other states about the new Covid variant omicron as it was “first hit and hardest hit” last time, state minister Aaditya Thackeray said after friction with the Center over guidelines at airports. Beach told NDTV today. The state has revised its guidelines, which the Center wanted in line with the national norms. But Mr Thackeray, who is also Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s son, clarified that Maharashtra’s rules would still be different from the Centre’s version as “the safety of the people is the top priority”.
Refusing to give details before the formal announcement, Mr Thackeray said Maharashtra has a large floating population.
“We have to do some things more strictly because even if you look at last time—we were hit first, we were hit hardest and we were always accountable and transparent… so we need to be a little cautious About our state,” he told NDTV in an exclusive interview.
Maharashtra announced a slew of restrictions last evening, which were to come into effect from midnight, causing trouble for over a thousand international passengers boarding their planes without knowing about any changes in the rules.
Under the rules, more than 50 ‘at risk’ nations were required to undergo a mandatory seven-day institutional quarantine, during which they were required to conduct three RT-PCR tests and pay for all.
International travelers not coming from “at risk” nations had to undergo RT-PCR tests, for which they had to pay. Those with negative reports could leave the airport but had to undergo home quarantine for 14 days.
The state later partially eased restrictions. Aaditya Thackeray said this was necessary as the passengers had no chance to plan their trips or finance.
This morning, the Center asked the state to “align it with the orders issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare”.
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