Maharashtra allows vaccination of bedridden

The state public health department appealed to citizens to send details of such patients to covidvacc2bedridden@gmail.com and said such patients would be vaccinated after they are registered online

The state government on Saturday allowed Covid-19 vaccination of bed-ridden patients. The state public health department appealed to citizens to send details of such patients to covidvacc2bedridden@gmail.com and said such patients would be vaccinated after they are registered online. The patient’s name, address, telephone number as well as a doctor’s certificate declaring that the patient will be in that state for at least the next six months will have to be sent to the email address. The doctor has to certify that the patient can be vaccinated. Also, a relative or caretaker has to give consent for the vaccination, informed the health department.

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Meanwhile, Maharashtra on Saturday recorded 8,172 Covid-19 cases, further proof that cases are showing a constant decline over the past fortnight. From 11,000-12,000 daily cases in June, the caseload has now come in the 8,000-9,000 range. In the first 15 days of July, the total number of Covid-19 cases was 127,884, with 2,298 deaths. In the corresponding period in June, there were 179,579 Covid-19 cases and 4,831 deaths.

The daily average cases in July are 8,525, with an average of 153 deaths daily. In contrast, the average cases and deaths in June were 11,971 and 322 deaths respectively.

State surveillance officer Dr Pradeep Awate said it indicated a declining second wave. “The virus has been declining and this trend indicates the same,” said Dr Awate. “The decreasing number is due to various factors like acquisition of natural immunity due to the infection or through vaccination process being undertaken across the state,” he added.

Dr Satyendra Nath Mehra, medical director, Masina Hospital, attributed the drop to various reasons. “The large scale vaccination being undertaken has blunted the severity of the virus and hence we are seeing less patients as well as reduced mortality,” said Dr Mehra. “The lockdown was responsible for reducing the transmission, which translated to fewer patients and consequently, reduction in death rate,” he added.

The total number of Covid-19 patients right from the outbreak last year has now reached 6,205,190, of which Mumbai’s share is 15,690. There were 220,851 tests done on Saturday, while the number of recoveries clocked 8,950. The total number of active patients in Maharashtra currently stands at 100,429, while the total number of deaths right from the Covid-19 outbreak has now reached 126,851. Pune tops with 16,339 active patients, followed by Thane with 15,793 and Mumbai with 10,672. Pune also leads with 17,615 deaths, followed by Mumbai clocking 15,690 and Thane with 10,630.