‘Maharashtra is India’s Covid capital,’ says Fadnavis, offers containment tips
Fadnavis is former chief minister of Maharashtra.
Leader of opposition in Maharashtra assembly Devendra Fadnavis on 74th Independence Day described the western state as India’s ‘Covid Capital’ citing figures of coronavirus infected patients and casualties. He also advised the state government to put greater emphasis on RT-PCR tests for detection of positive cases in the state.
“Maharashtra has become the Covid capital of India as the state accounts for 24% of total cases and 41% of total deaths in the country due to the disease,” Devendra Fadnavis tweeted earlier today.
Maharashtra’s coronavirus tally reached 5,84,754 on August 15 as per the latest figures released by the state health ministry. The fatality count has risen to 19,749 as on Saturday. In comparison, the country has registered 25,26,192 total Covid-19 cases so far including 49,036 deaths due to the disease. Maharashtra is by far the worst affected state in the country with Tamil Nadu being a distant second.
Also Read: Maharashtra’s Covid-19 tally now over 5.84 lakh with 12,614 new cases
As regards casualties, Maharashtra’s figure of 19,749 deaths is almost four times the number of fatalities recorded in Tamil Nadu-- 5,514—which has the second worst death toll in the country.
Fadnavis has in the past accused the three-party coalition government in Maharashtra, led by former BJP ally Shiv Sena, of mismanaging the Covid situation in the state. However, today, he said he was interested in solutions to contain the spread of the disease and not in making allegations.
“We are not making any allegations. We are more interested in arresting the spread of Coronavirus than doing politics. I have been demanding that the number of tests should be increased in the state,” Fadnavis was quoted as saying by news agency PTI after inaugurating a Covid care centre for journalists.
Earlier, Fadnavis had attacked the Uddhav Thackeray led state government for not conducting enough number of tests and also for allegedly underreporting the number of deaths. On Saturday, he advised the state government to increase the number of RT-PCR tests compared to the antigen tests.
Also Read: 4,000 apply for e-passes from Mumbai for inter-state travel ahead of Ganeshotsav
He said the current ratio of RT-PCR and antigen tests is 1:2, which should be equal.
In another suggestion, he said the state government should look to set up small centres for Covid care as they are easy to manage.
When asked about the performance of the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government, he said there is infighting among the ruling constituents, according to PTI.
Get Current Updates on Election 2024, India News, Lok Sabha Election 2024 LIVE along with Latest News and Top Headlines from India and around the world.