Maharashtra will impose a night curfew from the night of March 28 in view of the alarming rise in coronavirus cases, reported PTI. Malls have also been directed to stay closed from 8 pm to 7 am. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has warned of stricter restrictions if people do not observe COVID-19 safety protocol.

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“I do not wish to impose lockdown. But there seems a possibility of healthcare facilities falling short given the rise in the number of coronavirus patients,” Thackeray was quoted as saying.

The state has seen the highest number of coronavirus cases in India for a few weeks. The Maharashtra government had earlier imposed coronavirus-related restrictions in several districts, including Amravati, Pune and Nagpur.

Maharashtra reported a total of 35,952 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, the highest single-day spike in new cases since the onset of the pandemic, while its capital city of Mumbai also reported a record rise with 5,504 new infections.

A total of 111 virus-related deaths were recorded across Maharashtra on Thursday. Mumbai now has a total of 33,961 active cases while 14 deaths in the last 24 hours take the city’s death toll to 11,620. 

According to the union health ministry’s data, India’s COVID-19 tally on Friday reached 1,18,46,652 with 59,118 new cases of coronavirus recorded in the past 24 hours. A total of 257 deaths were registered on Thursday. The total number of coronavirus-induced deaths has now reached 1,60,949.