13,659 cases in Maharashtra, CM Thackeray says decision on lockdown soon

The state has till date recorded 2,252,057 infections. The state also recorded 54 deaths on Wednesday, taking the toll to 52,619. Mumbai, which has been recording over 1,000 cases for a week now, also recorded 1,539 cases and five deaths, taking the tally to 337,124 and toll to 11,515 deaths

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday said the state government will have to take a call on a lockdown in the next few days if people continue to ignore precautions needed to prevent the spread of Covid-19, The state on Wednesday reported 13,659 Covid-19 cases, its first one-day spike in excess of 13,000 in 2021 and highest in 154 days (on October 7, 2020, the state saw 14,578 cases).

(Satish Bate/HT Photo)

The state has till date recorded 2,252,057 infections. The state also recorded 54 deaths on Wednesday, taking the toll to 52,619. Mumbai, which has been recording over 1,000 cases for a week now, also recorded 1,539 cases and five deaths, taking the tally to 337,124 and toll to 11,515 deaths.

Speaking to mediapersons, Thackeray said the lockdown can still be avoided if people adopted Covid-19 appropriate behaviour and followed protocol. “Nobody likes a lockdown, even we do not like it. We do not want to impose restrictions on people. But people will have to follow the norms required to avoid it. We still can avoid a second lockdown. We will have to take some specific decision in the next few days. Covid-19 cases are on the rise. I still appeal to people to follow the protocol and guidelines laid down by the government. The vaccination drive is being implemented and will be ramped up in the coming days,” he said. On Wednesday, the Mumbai circle reported the highest number of cases (2,933), followed by Pune circle, which reported 2882 cases.

Pune city itself recorded 1,384 cases in a day.

The state has asked districts to tighten the grip by imposing limited lockdown, night curfews and increased contact tracing. A senior official from the public health department said, “The district administration is in favour of limited lockdown by imposing curbs on areas with a high positivity rate instead of a total lockdown in the state.” Jitendra Papalkar, Akola district collector said, “We have also been asked to push for institutional quarantine in cases where home isolation would not prove to be effective.”

There are 99,008 active cases in the state, according to a statement released by the public health department. The highest number of active cases in Maharashtra was 301,752 on September 17, 2020, after which the tally went down to around 50,000 in December 2020. On Wednesday, 9,913 people also recovered from the infection, taking the total to 2,099,207 till date. However, the state’s case fatality rate (CFR) continues to hover around 2.34%.

Dr Subhash Salunkhe, advisor to the state on Covid control, said the Central government must initiate vaccination for those in the age bracket of 24-40 too. “This is the age bracket involved in active life and most cases are also reported in this age group. Vaccination has to increase multi-fold in the state now.”

On Tuesday, 148,777 citizens were vaccinated in the state, of which 94, 984 were senior citizens above the age of 60 and 15,819 were above the age of 45 with comorbidities.

(With inputs from Surendra P Gangan)