Maharashtra records 27,918 fresh cases

After six consecutive days of recording over 30,000 Covid-19 infections, Maharashtra on Tuesday recorded 27,918 fresh cases, taking the tally to 2,773,436

After six consecutive days of recording over 30,000 Covid-19 infections, Maharashtra on Tuesday recorded 27,918 fresh cases, taking the tally to 2,773,436. The reduction in numbers has been attributed to marginally lower testing on account of a public holiday on Monday, officials said. In the past 24 hours, 129,876 samples were tested. Mumbai too saw lower numbers in comparison on Tuesday with 4,760 new cases. Mumbai was recording over 5,000 new cases daily since March 24.

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Maharashtra reported 139 fatalities, pushing its death toll to 54,422. Mumbai recorded 10 deaths, taking its toll to 11,675. Nashik district reported 22 deaths, while Dhule district added 16 deaths. Nandurbar and Ahmednagar added seven and nine fatalities, respectively. Out of the 139 deaths reported, 72 deaths occurred in the past 48 hours, and 45 in the last week. The remaining 22 deaths are from the period before last week.

Maharashtra went past 600,000 cases in March so far, which is more than what the state clocked in September 2020—when it first peaked. The state has added 618,366 cases between March 1 and March 30. In September, the state had added 593,192 cases. The deaths, however, are significantly lower than September. So far, in March, 2268 deaths have been recorded, while the state had 12,079 deaths in September.

Amid rising cases in the state, health minister Rajesh Tope said that a lockdown over the state would only be imposed as a last resort. He said that neither chief minister Uddhav Thackeray nor the ruling coalition wishes to impose a lockdown. The statement comes days after Thackeray directed officials to look at lockdown as step to arrest the rise in Covid-19 cases.

Tope, however, said that the government will be left with no option of the number of critical patients increase rapidly and exhaust the health facilities created, putting heavy strain on the medical infrastructure.

Tope refuted the speculations that there are differences within the government over imposing lockdown, and said, “Lockdown is not dear to the chief minister nor to anybody else. But looking at the increasing number of cases, we must ensure there is not shortfall of ICU beds, oxygen cylinders, etc. We have to keep an eye on the rising cases and bed occupancy. If there is going to be a shortfall and for some reason we are unable to increase the bed capacity, we are left with no option but choose the option of lockdown. Nothing is more important than a person’s life.”

The health minister said that in the next step towards stricter curbs on people, the state could explore options including shutting down restaurants, bars, cinema halls, theatres, etc to stop crowding. “We don’t want to impose a lockdown like earlier. We have to look at migrant labourers as construction is a major sector, workers in industries cannot be asked to stop work... We will find a centre-point on saving lives and not stopping the wheels of the economy. The next step we can look at is asking 50% attendance in private offices, shutting restaurants, cinema halls, etc,” Tope said.

The minister added the state has ordered oxygen manufacturers to supply 80% oxygen for medical use, while the remaining can be used for industries. “We are placed well in terms of ventilators. However, the demand for oxygen is increasing. We have ordered manufacturers to supply 80% oxygen for medical use, remaining 20% for industries. The Food and Drug Administration will ensure that all districts get adequate supply of oxygen cylinders,” he said.

The number of deaths in the state is increasing marginally. Officials attribute this increase to late admissions in hospitals. Tope said Covid-19 positive patients arrive late at hospital in a bad condition, making it challenging to save the patients. “Of the total cases we get , around 85% are asymptomatic. Most of them are in home quarantine. I have asked the department to strictly move patients to institutional quarantine facility, if home quarantine is not possible due to the size of the dwelling. If this is not done then, people reach hospital at a very late stage. The quarantine facilities will give anti-viral drug, monitor oxygen saturation, temperature, etc. so the person recovers faster. Many young people too have faced such issues,” he said, appealing people to get tested if they have any symptoms.

Chief minister Thackeray and ministers are expected to take a review of the Covid-19 situation, the availability of beds and other key parameters before deciding further restrictions. The health infrastructure in rural parts of Maharashtra could get exhausted with the rising cases in these areas.