Pune, March 26: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Friday warned citizens of a lockdown if COVID-19 appropriate behavior is not followed. Ajit Pawar issued the warning after holding weekly meeting to review COVID-19 situation in Maharashtra. He said the state government will monitor the situation till April 2 and might impose a lockdown if people continue to flout social distancing norms. 35,952 New Coronavirus Cases in Maharashtra, a New Record.

"We are going to monitor the Covid-19 cases in the state till April 2 and if we observe that people are not following social distancing norms, then the government won't have any option and we might go for lockdown again," Pawar was quoted by India Today as saying. He reiterated malls and cinema halls should operate at 50 percent of their capacity and marriage ceremonies should be restricted at 50 guests. COVID-19 Surge in Maharashtra: Lockdown Is An Option If People Fail to Follow COVID-19 Rules, Says CM Uddhav Thackeray.

Maharashtra is witnessing a surge in daily COVID-19 cases. The state recorded 35,952 new coronavirus infections on Thursday, the highest one-day rise since the pandemic began. It took the caseload in the state to 26,00,833. In the last 24 hours, 111 people died of COVID-19, pushing the death toll to 53,795. With discharge of 20,444 patients from hospitals, the recovery count in the state increased to 22,83,037. There are 2,62,685 active cases now.

Mumbai city also witnessed a record rise in cases during the day. It reported 5,505 new cases, its highest daily rise till now. Earlier, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray asked people to follow the COVID-related norms or face statewide lockdown.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 26, 2021 01:47 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).