E-Paper
Active cases increase by 50%, no decision on masks yet
PUNE The state has been reporting a rise in new and active Covid-19 cases since the past one week
PUNE The state has been reporting a rise in new and active Covid-19 cases since the past one week. However, the Maharashtra government is still not set on reintroducing masks as mandatory Covid-19 appropriate behaviour and will instead keep a watch on the situation for the next 4-5 days, said health officials.
Active Covid cases in Maharashtra, according to a weekly report by health department, have increased by 50% since April 17 to April 24 and the average positivity rate has risen to 0.7%.
The active case count in Maharashtra on April 17 was 646 while it went up to 916 a week later. Despite active cases rising, hospitalisations in major cities which have reported higher caseload have not seen any significant increase.
The state health department and the state government have now instructed all districts and corporations recording positivity rate of 0.8% or more to immediately increase testing. Districts including Pune, Mumbai, Parbhani, Sindhudurg, Dhule and Akola have a higher positivity rate than state average.
However, despite a rise in the active cases the state government says it is too early to reintroduce the mask mandate.Principal Secretary of the state public health department Pradeep Vyas said, “Let us see how things unfold in next four-five days and then we will suggest to appropriate authorities if masks are to be made mandatory again. I will advise people to voluntarily wear masks.”
State surveillance officer Dr Pradeep Awate said, “As of now, only Mumbai is reporting a rise in active cases and the positivity rate is high in others, however, we have instructed all districts to increase testing and keep a watch on any surge in hospitalisations. We are more concerned about hospitalisations right now as this would add to the health infrastructure burden.”
It has been less than a month since the state government removed all Covid-19 restrictions, including wearing masks in public places, however, the state task force had stated that masks should continue to remain mandatory in closed spaces at least.
Dr Shashank Joshi, member of the state task force during an earlier interaction post the state government order had stated that masks should continue to remain mandatory in closed spaces with poor ventilation.
As of now the districts reporting higher positivity rate than the states weekly average between April 17 and 23 areAkola at 1.2%, Mumbai at 1%, Parbhani at 1.2%, Pune at 1.5%, Sindhudurg at 1.3% and the highest was reported from Dhule at 4.5%. The state’s weekly average positivity rate stands at 0.7% for the said period, as 170,575 samples were tested out of which 1,117 new cases were registered.
