Lockdown an option, says Maharashtra CM

A day after Maharashtra clocked its highest single-day spike in Covid-19 cases, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said lockdown was an option before the government, but he expected more cooperation and Covid-appropriate behaviour from people

A day after Maharashtra clocked its highest single-day spike in Covid-19 cases, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said lockdown was an option before the government, but he expected more cooperation and Covid-appropriate behaviour from people.

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray interacts with locals during his visit to Dhadgaon Rural Health Centre, in Nandurbar, on Friday. (PTI)

Thackeray, who was on a tour of Nandurbar district on Friday, appealed to people to get vaccinated without any apprehension or fear. He also said the Centre has assured enough vaccine stock to the state.

With the Covid cases increasing daily, the state is not looking at a lockdown at this stage and will set up micro-containment zones in areas where the number of cases is higher. “The threat of coronavirus has increased again. It surpassed the peak that we touched in September. One option is lockdown, but I am expecting cooperation from people, like they did during the previous lockdown… At many places, people have started to wear masks,” the CM said while speaking to reporters in Dhadgaon, Nandurbar district.

Even as the Covid-19 cases have shot up rapidly over the past few weeks, Thackeray said they have not been informed by the Centre about a mutation in the virus strain. “We had [Covid-19] cases with foreign strain, but the number was limited. However, we have asked the Centre if currently there is any different genome spreading [in Maharashtra]. But so far, we have not got any information. They have not confirmed to us if it is a different strain,” Thackeray said.

Health secretary Pradeep Vyas was accompanying Thackeray as he took review of the Covid and vaccination situation in the interior areas of the predominantly tribal district.

In an apparent response to Union minister Prakash Javadekar, who claimed that the state government has mismanaged its vaccination drive, Thackeray, without naming the minister, said, “There is some misleading information that [vaccine] stock is lying around, but it is not so. It is kept based on the timetable for the next few days.”

While speaking in the north Maharashtra district, Thackeray appealed to people to get inoculated. He added that now the people have some “shield” to defend themselves against the coronavirus unlike last year. “I appeal to people, who are eligible, to get vaccinated on their own… if there is any fear in taking the vaccine, it should be removed. Even after taking the shot, we need to follow Covid-appropriate behavior of masking, sanitising and social distancing. The Centre has assured us that there will not be any shortfall in availability of vaccine doses. We have stock enough for the next five to seven days, and then we expect to get another batch of vaccines,” he said.

He added that there have been some Covid-19 cases where people have been infected after vaccination. However, the vaccine reduces the intensity of the virus and doesn’t become fatal, he said, stressing on the importance of getting vaccinated.

Thackeray also directed district officials to give all facilities to people in the interior parts of Nandurbar. “Urban areas have the medical facilities, but it is important that people in the rural and interior areas get proper facilities,” Thackeray said after a review of the situation in the district. Nandurbar added 424 new cases on Friday and had 2,442 active cases in the district. The chief minister also directed authorities to prepare a tourism development plan for Tornamal, a hill station located in the Satpura range in the district.