21 Maha dists a worry; strict curbs in six

The state on Tuesday recorded 51,880 new Covid-19 cases, even as 15 districts, including Mumbai and Thane, showed a drop in the number of cases, while 21 continued to record a high number of cases

The state on Tuesday recorded 51,880 new Covid-19 cases, even as 15 districts, including Mumbai and Thane, showed a drop in the number of cases, while 21 continued to record a high number of cases. The state reported 891 deaths; 240,956 people were tested.

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The state government in order to contain the Covid-19 virus has imposed a strict lockdown in six districts where the cases are increasing. In this lockdown, everything, except medical facilities, will remain closed and people can only venture out for medical emergencies.

Health minister Rajesh Tope said, “If we compare today’s situation to that of two weeks ago, we have witnessed a decline in the number of cases. We have been able to bring down the numbers in 15 districts, but the cases continue to rise in 21 districts. Our main target is to bring down these numbers.”

The state government has imposed a stricter curfew in six districts—Baramati, Sangli, Satara, Ahmednagar, Kolhapur and Beed – which have been witnessing an increase in Covid-19 cases.

Tope justified stricter lockdown saying it was needed to bring down the cases. “There is definitely a lockdown in place, but this will be stricter,” said Tope. Due to the spike, these districts have been facing a shortage of hospital beds, ventilators as well as medicines like Remdesivir. Currently, the state needs approximately 40,000 oxygen concentrators, of which 20,000 will be provided to the state.

Dr Ishwar Gilada, secretary general, Organised Medicine Academic Guild, said the problem is twofold in these 24 districts. “It has been observed that people there are very casual and some even don’t wear masks. For them, even lockdowns don’t matter. The second factor is this current mutant is highly infectious and it has been transmitting at a breakneck speed,” said Gilada.

Tope also said the positivity rate dropped to 22% from 27%. “Our recovery rate of 84.07 % has been the highest in the country and better than that of the country which stands at 81%,” said Tope.

The state has demanded an additional 200 metric tonnes supply of oxygen as 78,884 patients were occupying oxygen beds, while 24,787 were in intensive care units (ICU). The state procured 900,000 vaccines from the Central government on Tuesday which were used to vaccinate citizens above the age of 45 years, while the state has issued orders for purchasing 1,800,000 vaccine doses for those in the 18-44 years age group.

The total number of active patients in Maharashtra currently stands at 641,910, while the total number of deaths right from the Covid-19 outbreak has now reached 71,742.

There are currently 641,910 active patients across the state, of which Pune tops with 109,531 patients, followed by Nagpur with 64,554 active patients. The death toll has now reached 71,742, with Mumbai leading with 13,434 deaths, followed by Pune with 9,770.