Maharashtra mulls unlocking, starting next week

With Covid-19 cases on the decline, the state is planning gradual unlocking from June 1, by allowing shops and establishments dealing in non-essential commodities to operate, albeit with timing restrictions, and government offices to operate with more employees

With Covid-19 cases on the decline, the state is planning gradual unlocking from June 1, by allowing shops and establishments dealing in non-essential commodities to operate, albeit with timing restrictions, and government offices to operate with more employees. However, the suburban train network is unlikely to be open for the general public for a few more weeks.

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Meanwhile, Maharashtra reported 22,122 new Covid-19 cases, which was the lowest single-day spike in 69 days (17,864 infections were reported on March 16). The state tally has now touched 5,602,019.

The death toll stands at 89,212 after the addition of 361 new fatalities on Monday.

The state has witnessed a steady decline in cases over the past three weeks as the daily caseload dropped below 30,000, from it hovering around 55,000 three weeks ago. The active cases in the state dropped to 348,395 on Sunday, from its peak of 699,858 cases on April 22. The daily growth rate dropped to 0.69% on May 18, from 1.45% on April 30. This has led to the rising demand of relaxation from the ongoing lockdown, which has been imposed in a phase-wise manners beginning from April 5. The ongoing lockdown is in force till 7am on June 1.

The deliberation over the gradual relaxation from the lockdown has begun at the state government level. The final decision by chief minister Uddhav Thackeray is expected to be taken towards the end of the week after due deliberation with his cabinet colleagues and the experts from the state task force. The state is expected to allow the establishments from non-essential sector to operate for limited hours, along with the shops and establishments in the essential sector. The timing of operation of the players in essential sector is also expected to increase. “Industrial units, too, may get some relaxations, while the workforce in government offices is expected to go up from the current permission of 15%. However, the establishments like restaurants, malls, multiplexes will continue to remain shut as they have been proved to be superspreaders in the past,” said an official from Mantralaya.

The positivity rate in as many as 23 districts (of total 36) is still more than 10% and relaxations from the curbs there is against the guidelines of the Centre and World Health Organisation (WHO). Satara, Sangli, Parbhani, Osmanabad, Hingoli, Beed, Sindhudurg are among those with a high positivity rate. “We are expecting the positivity rate to fall below the benchmark towards the end of the week, so that they, too, get some relaxations,” the officer said.

Relief and rehabilitation minister Vijay Wadettiwar said on Monday that the state government was considering unlocking from June 1. He, however, said that it will continue in the districts where cases are still high. “There are currently at least 14 district which we consider to be in the red zones with high number of cases and the restrictions for them cannot be lifted. But for other districts where cases have fallen, some relaxations will be given. After all the industrial losses, livelihoods of the people need to be considered. The modalities for unlocking will be chalked out in the next 4-5 days,” he said.

Wadettiwar said that districts with high number of cases may see more restrictions and containment zones. “The districts, which still are hotspot of cases, will have more containment zones, aiming at restricting the rise in cases. We have also directed strict action against people who step out in public places without valid reasons. We have also been emphasising on institutional quarantine of infected people in these districts to break the chain of infection,” he said.

The minister clarified that the local trains in the MMR would not be opened for the general public for at least for few more weeks. “There has been lot of demand for allowing the people from various categories to commute in local trains, but it is not possible at least for next few weeks. One of the main reasons for the drop in the cases in Mumbai and surrounding areas is the restrictions on rail commuting. If we allow all to commute in trains, there would be similar crowding, leading to the spread of the virus. We will continue to allow people in health services and government employees to commute,” he said.

There were 263,774 tests conducted on Monday, while the number of recoveries were 42,320. The positivity rate stood at 8.3%. The state currently has 327,580 active cases. There are currently 327,580 active patients across the state, of which Pune tops with 48,258 patients, followed by Mumbai with 28,299 active patients. The death toll has now reached 89,212 with Mumbai leading with 14,613 death,s followed by Pune with 11,497 patients.

Kolhapur, Satara, Sangli remains to log high number of cases. On May 24, there were 1209 cases in Kolhapur region, which is much more compared to 901 new cases a month back. Satara also witnessed an increase in cases as 1,912 cases were recorded last month on April 24, which jumped to 2,470 on Monday. In Buldhana, there were 641 cases last month on April 24, which jumped to 1190 on Monday.

In Kolhapur, there was huge queue outside the Regional Transport Office (RTO) to recover the vehicles seized during the lockdown of those who were travelling without valid reason. In Nagpur, citizens heaved a sigh of relief was lockdown was relaxed.

Dr Ishwar Gilada, Secretary General, Organised Medicine Academic Guild (OMAG), said the problem is Covid-19 has now deeply penetrated to the rural pockets. “Many rural people tend to skip testing as Covid-19 is seen as a stigma. The result is entire family gets infected since this mutant is highly virulent,” said Gilada. “Another issue is the inadequate hospital infrastructure as rural pockets have hardly 30 % of healthcare facility which cater to more than 70 % of the population,” said Gilada. “The entire process is delayed due to which more people get infected and even the death rates increase,” he added.