Mumbai, May 1 () Maharashtra Chief Minister UddhavThackeray on Friday said that the coronavirus-induced lockdownrestrictions will be lifted in the state in a zone-wise mannerafter May 3 and the rules will be relaxed cautiously.
In a live webcast, he said the relaxation of ruleswill not be carried out in haste.
"We will tread cautiously. It is in nobody's Interestto lift the lockdown in the (COVID-19) red zones like Mumbai,Pune region, Nagpur and Aurangabad, where the number ofpositive cases is on the rise," he said.
The government was, however, working on relaxing therules elsewhere, he said.
"Don't crowd in places where the restrictions arerelaxed, otherwise the rules will have to be made stricter,"he said.
Thackeray said that in orange zones, even though thereare no new positive cases, some active cases do exist, whilein green zones there are no cases.
"Even in green zones, we can't take chances.Relaxations will be carried out after May 3 zone-wise. It willbe one step-by-step and cautiously," he said.
Admitting that people were facing hardships due to thelockdown, he said, "But the real wealth of any country is thegood health of its people. If people are safe then all iswell."
The chief minister said that there is fear aboutCOVID-19 in people's mind, which he termed as "Covidsyndrome.
"We have to get out of it. We should know that theillness is curable if detected early, he said.
Thackeray said that the lockdown has acted as a "speedbreaker" in the virus chain, and added that the number ofpositive cases in the state increased due to aggressivetesting.
"Over two lakh people were tested with oximeter, ofwhom 272 had low oxygen level. The authorities are treatingsuch patients as well," he said.
According to him, 75 to 80 per cent of the patientsare asymptomatic or have very mild symptoms.
He greeted the people on the 60th foundation dayof the state.
He recalled the golden jubilee celebrations of thestate held in 2010 and said the venues of those programmes,like BKC and NESCO grounds in Goregaon, are being kept readyas COVID-19 treatment facilities.
Thackeray said his government had planned to celebratethe 60th anniversary of the state on a large scale, but thegovernment is doing all it can to fight the pandemic.
"Maharashtra Day is a day when we won SanyuktaMaharashtra with Mumbai as its capital. The win becamepossible due to the struggle and sacrifices," he said. MRNP NP