India's Maharashtra to impose stringent lockdown this week- state minister

India's western state of Maharashtra, home to the financial capital Mumbai, plans to impose a stringent lockdown this week to try to halt the rising cases of coronavirus, two senior ministers from the state cabinet told reporters.

India's western state of Maharashtra, home to the financial capital Mumbai, plans to impose a stringent lockdown this week to try to halt the rising cases of coronavirus, two senior ministers from the state cabinet told reporters. Maharashtra, one of India's largest states, is the worst-hit state in a new surge of cases in India.

Infections have been rising even after restrictions were imposed this month, and that made a stringent lockdown necessary, Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope told reporters. "The lockdown would be like last year," Tope said.

The state also plans to import COVID-19 vaccines to ramp up vaccination drive, he said.