Maharashtra sees 61,000 new cases, tally 3,639,855

Maharashtra on Thursday added 61,695 fresh Covid-19 cases, taking its tally to 3,639,855, while the active case count rose to 620,060

Maharashtra on Thursday added 61,695 fresh Covid-19 cases, taking its tally to 3,639,855, while the active case count rose to 620,060. The state added 349 fatalities to push its toll to 59,163. Amid the severe shortage, the state health department and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is taking steps to secure oxygen supply from various sources and to get more supply of Remdesivir.

A health worker collects swab samples from travellers at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT). (Bhushan Koyande/ HT Photo)

Mumbai, meanwhile, added 8,209 new infections taking the tally to 553,404. The active cases in Mumbai stood at 84,753. The city reported 50 fatalities, taking the toll to 12,197.

State health minister Rajesh Tope said they are exploring the legal aspects of procuring Remdesivir from 15 pharmaceutical companies, amid the bar on export by the Government of India. “If we can get Remdesivir stock from the companies that have been disallowed to export the product, our shortage can be filled in five to seven days. There are 15 companies that export the drug and their finished product is ready,” Tope said.

Rajendra Shingne, minister for FDA, said the state’s daily procurement of Remdesivir will shoot to 70,000 in a few days if the companies are allowed to supply their stock. “Today, we get only about 40,000 injections from four companies. In the next two-three days, this figure will go up to 70,000 a day. I am talking to all export companies to procure the stock that was meant for export,” he said. The state has been hit by the shortage as a Hyderabad-based pharma company that predominantly supplied stock is unable to do so due to lack of production in the past few months, senior government officials said. Besides private hospitals in the state, government hospitals in Bhandara, Osmanabad, and Satara, too, are facing shortage.

Besides, the two departments—health and FDA—have decided to streamline the distribution of the drug based on the active number of patients in each district, Tope said. “There is definitely a shortage of Remdesivir, we are not denying it. Government hospitals in Bhandara, Osmanabad, and even in Satara are facing shortage. To tackle the shortage in private hospitals, we will give as per the active cases... The use of remdesivir is not done judiciously. The shortage will be sorted in the next five-seven days.”

He added, “The supply of remdesivir to private hospitals will be by factoring in the number of patients. For government hospitals, including municipal-run, medical college, and district hospitals, the corporations, medical education department and state health department will distribute remdesivir after procurement, respectively.”

Another cause for concern is the availability of oxygen. Tope said the state currently needs 1400 metric tonnes of oxygen and it is managing to supply it. However, he said that districts hospitals have been asked to set up oxygen generation plants and rationalise use of oxygen. The department is also meeting with representatives of the companies that produce oxygen from air, he said.

According to Tope, the Centre has allowed Maharashtra to take oxygen from four states, including Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat. Shingne said the state is getting 60 tonnes from Bhilai, Chhattisgarh, 15 tonnes from Bellary, Karnataka, and 15 tonnes from Hyderabad

“The chief minister has spoken to JSW Steel company and additional 200 metric tonnes will be provided from its storage of 1200 metric tonnes. Besides that, oxygen generation plants need to set up at major hospitals in all districts. We are also going to request private hospitals that have over 50 beds and are dedicated Covid hospitals, to set up oxygen generation plants,” he said

According to the minister, the state Covid task force has asked hospitals to utilise oxygen as per need. Tope said, “ICU patients require average 12 litre/minute, while non-ICU patients 7.5 litre/minute. The task force has also suggested that instead of high flow nasal cannula, which utilised more oxygen, BiPAP must be used as it uses less [pressure of] oxygen. This will help use utilise oxygen in a controlled manner.”

The surrounding areas of Mumbai, including Thane, Kalyan-Dombivli, Ulhasnagar, Navi Mumbai, Vasai-Virar, Mira-Bhayander, Panvel and Bhiwandi saw 7421 fresh cases and 31 deaths, collectively.

Meanwhile, Pune, Nagpur, Nashik, Ahmednagar districts continued to report a high number of cases on Thursday. Pune district saw 8,127 fresh cases and 59 deaths, with 5,469 cases and 42 deaths alone from Pune city. Nagpur district saw 7,075 new cases and 30 deaths. Nashik district reported 4,839 new cases and 13 deaths, while Ahmednagar district saw 2,977 new cases and 29 deaths. Bhandara, Chandrapur, Latur, and Satara districts reported 1,252, 1,541, 1,178, and 1,153 fresh cases, respectively.

In the past 24 hours, the state tested 234,542 samples and had a positivity rate of 26.3%. The state also reported 53,335 discharges, taking the tally of recovered patients to 2,959,056, with a recovery rate of 81.3%.