Maharashtra: Curbs likely in districts with high Covid-19 positivity rate

Maharashtra on Sunday recorded 4,666 fresh Covid-19 infections, pushing its count to 6,456,939

Maharashtra on Sunday recorded 4,666 fresh Covid-19 infections, pushing its count to 6,456,939. The tally of active cases slightly increased to 52,844 as 3,510 recoveries were reported in the last 24 hours.

A health worker screens passengers at Dadar station on Sunday. (Satish Bate/HT)

State health minister Rajesh Tope said they will follow the directives issued by the central government. On Thursday, the central government suggested to the state government to impose restrictions in districts where the test positivity rate is higher during upcoming festivals. He also said they are working on to vaccinate all teaching and non-teaching staff by September 5, which will be their first step towards reopening schools in the state.

The state saw 131 casualties and the total fatalities now stands at 137,157. Pune reported the highest toll with 24 deaths. Of them, 21 were found in the district and the rest three in the city. It was followed by Solapur and Satara with 18 fatalities each.

As August is coming to an end, the daily cases continue to remain stagnant in Maharashtra. Despite relaxations granted by the state government, no significant change was observed as daily cases remained between 4,000 and 5,000 cases. Going by the trend, the state is likely to report around 1.5 million this month, which is much less than what was recorded last month.

Till Saturday, the state had reported 145,333 cases, compared to 226,29 reported in the corresponding period last month. The total cases reported in July were 239,854 and in June 316,283 cases were reported.

The health minister said that they need to be very careful as many festivals are lined up, which may lead to a spike in cases that has happened in Kerala. “Onam led to a spike in cases in Kerala, considering this we also need to be careful as many festivals are lined up in the coming months such as Gauri Ganpati, Dussehra and Diwali. This is the reason the central government issued the guidelines, which will be followed by the state. The final decision will be taken by the chief minister (Uddhav Thackeray),” Tope told reporters in Jalna on Sunday.

“Even though the trajectory of daily new cases has shown a decline over the last month, there are some districts in Maharashtra which are showing early signs of upsurge in Covid-19 cases and test positivity… In view of mass events and public gathering expected during celebrations of upcoming festivals (including Dahi Handi and Ganesh Utsav) in Maharashtra, it is advised that the state may consider imposing and enforcing local restrictions in public observation of these festivals and mass gatherings,” stated a letter written by Rajesh Bhushan, secretary, ministry of health and family welfare on August 27.

Tope said that they have directed the state administration to complete vaccination of teaching and non-teaching staff by September 5. “We have asked to complete the vaccination drive of teaching and non-teaching staff by September 5. They have also been told to hold a special drive for the same, if required,” he added.

He said that this is a first step towards opening the schools and further decision will be taken after holding deliberations with the state task force.

Maharashtra is the state with highest number of Covid-19 cases. Now, it also has maximum Delta plus variant cases.

On Sunday, Mumbai clocked 345 cases and reported a total 743,499 cases till date. It also recorded two fatalities taking the toll to 15,974.

In the last 24 hours, the state tested 203,210 samples and had a positivity rate of 2.29%. However, the overall positivity rate of the state stood at 12.03%, according to the data issued by the state health department.

The state also vaccinated only 111,774 people on Sunday and has administered a total 57,165,318 doses till date, according to the data available on Co-Win portal.