Maharashtra likely to extend lockdown by two weeks

The Maharashtra government is likely to extend the lockdown till May-end, even as it reported its lowest single-day spike in Covid-19 cases in 41 days

The Maharashtra government is likely to extend the lockdown till May-end, even as it reported its lowest single-day spike in Covid-19 cases in 41 days. With 37,236 new Covid-19 infections (27,918 cases were reported on March 30), the state’s tally went up to 5,138,973, while the toll rose to 76,398 with 549 more deaths.

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The significant dip in cases on Monday can be attributed to the drop in number of tests to 192,330 in 24 hours, below the daily average of over 2,50,000 tests over the past few weeks. The test positivity rate on Monday stood at 19.36%, against the weekly rate of 20.82%. Mumbai, too, saw its lowest one-day spike in 56 days (1,782 cases), after reporting 1,713 infections on March 15.

The state government is, however, all set to extend its current lockdown by another two weeks after it ends at 7am on May 15. The lockdown will be as strict as it is currently, while in some districts where the cases are on the rise, the local administration is expected to impose stricter curbs. The decision is expected to be taken in the state cabinet on Wednesday. At present, cases are on the rise in 21 districts and dropping in 15, including Mumbai and Thane.

The slowed-down vaccination drive is another reason for extension of the lockdown.

“Though the daily caseload has stabilised over the past few weeks, it is still at the average of over 55,000, which is much higher than the peak of the first wave, when the highest daily peak was 24,886 cases on September 11 last year. We will still have to follow stricter curbs to bring the cases down. The strain on the health infrastructure has been reduced significantly with more than 25% beds in the state vacant. In some districts, the percentage is 40. But some districts like Kolhapur, Sangli are witnessing rise in the number of cases. More than half the districts are still logging rise in daily cases. In such a scenario,the lockdown will continue in its current form at least for two more weeks,” said an official from Mantralaya.

Currently, only essential establishments are allowed to operate between 7am and 11am, while attendance in government offices has been brought down to 15%. People are not allowed to venture out without a valid reason. The inter-district travel, too, has been restricted only for the medical and valid reasons.

A senior Shiv Sena minister said that the decision of extension by two weeks was taken in the cabinet when it was unanimously decided, in last week of April, to impose lockdown.

“We had decided to extend it by two weeks instead of announcing it for four weeks at a go,” he said.

Mumbai’s guardian minister Aslam Shaikh on Monday said the decision over the lockdown will be taken after discussion in the cabinet. “We have been augmenting our health infrastructure during the lockdown to face the second wave and in anticipation of the potential third wave of the pandemic. We have been witnessing good result of the lockdown as cases in Mumbai and other cities have come down significantly. Considering this, the decision over giving relaxations in the districts with a drop in cases and stricter norms where cases are on the rise, will be taken,” he said.

Some of the districts have imposed stricter lockdown amid the rise in cases. Buldhana district’s guardian minister Rajendra Shingne announced that the district has terminated internal public transport service until May 20. The shops, too, have been shut down for more than a week beginning from Tuesday.

Pune district remains on the top in term of daily cases with 4,685 cases reported on Monday, followed by 3,813 cases in Ahmednagar, 2,545 in Nagpur, 2,234 in Nashik. The daily caseload in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) dropped to 4,883 on Monday from over 10,000 cases a few days ago. After Mumbai, Latur (51), Beed(42), Kalhapur (26) districts reported high number of deaths.

With the drop in active cases to 590,818, the state’s recovery rate improved to 86.97%. Highest active patients, 97,593, are in Pune, followed by 47,054 in Mumbai and 34,185 in Thane. State has 3,670,320 people in home quarantine and 26,664 institutionally quarantined.