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Amid rising Covid-19 cases in the north, Maharashtra asks district admins to increase testing
The state health department officials said that despite a slight rise in the number of cases in Mumbai and Thane, there is no rise in the number of hospital admissions
PUNE Amid rising Covid-19 cases in Haryana and National Capital Region, the state government of Maharashtra has asked the district administration to increase testing and keep a vigil on rising cases. As of now, the state government does not intend to bring back any Covid-19 related restrictions, including making masks mandatory.
The state health department officials said that despite a slight rise in the number of cases in Mumbai and Thane, there is no rise in the number of hospital admissions. In Maharashtra, the health department has increased testing daily. On Monday, over 20,000 tests were conducted.
According to state surveillance officer Dr Pradeep Awate, the situation in Maharashtra is not concerning as there is just a slight rise in cases in Mumbai and Thane, and also no rise in hospital admissions.
“There is no explanation for the rise in Covid-19 cases in the north, as we have not reported any new variant and also, most of the population is vaccinated. One possible explanation could be the waning immunity, however, due to the third wave most of the population which was infected has natural immunity right now, and so the vulnerable population number is quite less. However, we saw the third wave in January and it was not a long time ago, so most of the population still has the natural immunity,” said Awate.
On Tuesday, Maharashtra reported 137 cases while number of tests conducted stood at 28,539. The cases were higher compared to Monday, when state reported 59 cases with 18,635 samples tested. The same day, India reported 2,183 new Covid-19 cases, which was nearly twice the figure that was reported on Sunday, where 1,150 new infections were registered.
In the past few days, Mumbai has been reporting about 50 new cases daily, as opposed to below 30 in the beginning of April. Although the number of active Covid-19 cases have been falling, from 911 cases on April 1 to 634 as of April 18.
The number of new cases in the state is hovering around 150 daily. Currently, there are no restrictions in the state with regards to Covid-19 appropriate behaviour, including mandatory use of masks, however, based on the next week’s reporting of the cases, the state might take a decision, said health department officials.
“During our daily video conference meeting, we have asked the district officials to increase testing and keep an eye on the rising cases,” added Awate.
