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Lockdown to be enforced in parts of Maha, says CM
On Thursday, there were14,317new cases in the state – the most so far since the beginning of this year.
Several parts of Maharashtra will be put under a lockdown in an attempt to contain a worsening Covid-19 outbreak, the chief minister said on Thursday as the state recorded its highest number of new cases this year – a situation that Union health ministry officials separately described as “very worrying”.
On Thursday, there were14,317new cases in the state – the most so far since the beginning of this year. The state has recorded a sustained increase since the middle of February. More than half (57%) of the 128,599 new Covid infections reported across the country in the past week have been in Maharashtra.
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“Some areas of Maharashtra will witness strict lockdown measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus infection. The government is going to hold a special meeting with officials before coming out with the lockdown measures,” chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said.
Later, the CM in a televised address said the state is now better prepared to deal with any surge compared to the previous waves, and that the government would try to avoid wider lockdowns as far as possible and target curbs only in hotspot areas.
Earlier, state minister Nitin Raut said Nagpur – a commercial and logistics hub – will be put under a strict lockdown between March 15 and 21. Movement will be restricted and most offices and shops will be shut, except for those involved with essential services.
In Delhi, at the Union health ministry’s weekly briefing on the Covid-19 situation, officials and experts said the spurt in Maharashtra was likely to be due to people becoming reckless. “At the moment we are very clear it is related to reduced number of testing and tracking, and tracing, as well as Covid-19 inappropriate behavior, and large congregations and masses (weddings, local trains etc),” said Balram Bhargava, director general, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
Bhargava said mutated variants of the Sars-Cov-2 virus were not found to have been fuelling the spread. The Union government identified the districts of Pune, Nagapur, Thane, Mumbai, Amravati, Jalgaon, Nasik, and Aurangabad as being cause for concern.
The surge prompted experts to stress on the need to accelerate vaccinations. “Vaccination today has to be brought into facing this virus and pandemic in full blast. It will be our suggestion for districts where the virus is on the rise in a significant way, vaccination of the eligible individuals in those areas should be intensified, should be prioritised. That will be our advice,” said VK Paul, member (health), Niti Aayog.
Paul said the government was “very worried about Maharashtra’s” situation. “It has lessons for us: one is not to take the virus for granted as it can come up unexpectedly; and the other is to understand until it is fully over, it is not over. The vaccination process will have to be ramped up fast,” said Paul.
Centre has rushed expert teams to the state to assist local government in assessing and managing the situation of ground. “There is a rise in active cases which declined around mid-September when the active case load was as low as 135,000. And today these are 189,000 active cases,” said Rajesh Bhushan, Union health secretary.
“Whatever we had been doing so far, it is more of the same that the states have to continue but in a more efficient manner. That is our message to the states,” he added.
The key lies in scaling up, and speeding up Covid-19 vaccination service, say experts.
“Today with the force of vaccination we are in a position to give the disease a stronger fight,” said Paul.
