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Maha crosses 2K-mark with biggest 24-hr jump
The state said 352 more people tested positive for Covid-19, taking the number of patients confirmed to have the infection to 2,334.
Maharashtra doubled its coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases to 2,000 in six days, recording its biggest 24-hour jump on Monday, as 11 more deaths in the state vaulted the number of fatalities in the pandemic to 160, prompting the Uddhav Thackeray government to extend the lockdown until the end of April.
The state said 352 more people tested positive for Covid-19, taking the number of patients confirmed to have the infection to 2,334. Of Monday’s cases, Mumbai, the Indian city worst hit by the disease, alone recorded 242, taking its Covid-19 count to 1,540.
Of the 11 deaths in Maharashtra, nine were reported by Mumbai and one each by Pune and Mira-Bhayander.
Thirty-nine cases were recorded in Pune; 14 in Malegaon; 11 in Nagpur; nine in Thane; seven in Mira-Bhayander; six in Pimpri-Chinchwad; five in Vasai-Virar; four each in Aurangabad, Buldhana and Kalyan-Dombivli; one each in Ahmednagar, Dhule, Nashik, Navi Mumbai, Panvel, Raigad and Yavatmal.
The Thackeray government on Monday extended the lockdown, which was to end at midnight on April 14, until April 30, even as it looks at allowing micro-, small- and medium- enterprises (MSMEs) to start operations in districts that are not affected, or relatively less affected, by the outbreak. A proposal for allowing industries to reopen is being prepared by the state industries department.
“It was necessary to extend the lockdown period as the state has been the worst-hit by the pandemic and more than a hundred cases are coming per day for more than a week. The spread can be arrested only with the help of a lockdown,” said a senior official, requesting anonymity.
On the lockdown extension, a notification issued by chief secretary Ajoy Mehta on Monday read: “It is expedient to take measures further to contain the spread of coronavirus; therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred under section 2 of the Epidemic Disease Act, 1897 the state government directs that the lockdown orders shall now be extended up to and inclusive of April 30, 2020.”
Maharashtra took 30 days to cross the 1,000-case mark on April 7 and exceeded the 2,000 tally in just six days. The state health department isn’t perturbed because it is still in stage two or the local transmission phase, where the spread of the disease is limited to those with a travel history or are in contact with infected people, and not entered stage 3 or community transmission in which the source of the infection cannot be traced.
State health commissioner Anup Kumar Yadav said the coronavirus spread was not “exponential” and under control.
“We are still in stage two of transmission. The spread is now in clusters, but it is not exponential. Our cluster containment plans are showing results and it is not going out of control. Any infectious disease has a growth pattern. One is the way it is growing now, and the other is it is growing exponentially, which is seen in some other countries. We are confident that the measures we have taken at an early stage are well-placed; it is responding well. So it should not go out of control,” Yadav said.
According to Yadav, the state is conducting an average of 3,000 coronavirus tests daily, and he attributed the increasing number of cases to aggressive testing. The state government, he said, was now awaiting antibody test kits from the Centre to carry out “rapid testing”.
“We are waiting for the kits. They would be first used by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). We do not plan to use it elsewhere in the state. Besides, we are also awaiting the Centre’s nod for pool testing permission, which the state had sought,” he said.
Malegaon in Nashik district has seen a surge in the number of coronavirus cases. On Monday, 14 cases were reported from the neighbourhood, taking the tally to 29. It is being looked at as another cluster where the spread has spiked. District authorities and the municipal council are looking at demarcating containment areas in Malegaon.
The Maharashtra government is considering allowing industrial operations across the state except in Mumbai and Pune. State industries minister Subhash Desai held a review meeting on Monday and directed the department to submit a proposal on where MSMEs and other industries can be reopened.
“Excluding the areas of Mumbai and Pune, which has a high number of Covid-19 cases, a proposal should be prepared to allow industries to start their operations with certain restrictions in the rest of the districts of the state,” Desai said in a statement.
