778 Covid-19 cases in a day take Maha tally to 6,427

Maharashtra on Thursday recorded its highest single-day jump in coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases with 778 new infections, taking India’s worst-hit state’s tally

Maharashtra on Thursday recorded its highest single-day jump in coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases with 778 new infections, taking India’s worst-hit state’s tally to 6,427. Of these cases, 522 were in Mumbai, taking the country’s most battered city’s case count up to 4,205.

HT Image

Maharashtra also recorded 14 deaths, making the toll 283. On Thursday, Mumbai recorded six deaths, taking its toll to 167, while five were reported in Pune, and one each in Navi Mumbai, Nandurbar and Dhule.

A total of 122 fresh Covid-19 cases were from the other parts of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) — Thane, Mira-Bhayander, Kalyan-Dombivli, Palghar, Navi Mumbai, Vasai-Virar, Panvel, among others.

Thane city reported 48 new cases, taking its tally to 214, as Thane rural recorded an additional 10 cases. Mira-Bhayander recorded 35 new Covid-19 cases; 27 new cases were recorded in Kalyan-Dombivli. Malegaon, in Nashik district, which is one of the five hotspots in Maharashtra, recorded 15 fresh cases as its tally rose to 109.

In the past 24 hours, the state has carried out 6,136 coronavirus tests and 778 people have tested positive for the virus, which is 12.67% of the total people tested.

Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray held a meeting with two inter-ministerial central teams (IMCTs), who are visiting Mumbai and Pune to see the measures taken by the state government to tackle the spread of coronavirus, and has assured to implement the measures suggested by the Central teams.

The Central teams, during their video conference with Thackeray and key officials from the state, have pressed for more institutional quarantine facilities in slums like Dharavi; shifting of people from Dharavi into quarantine facilities; ramping up testing; operationalise private clinics and hospitals for non-Covid-19 patients, among others. The state government has also been told to focus on the hotspots in Mumbai owing to the spiralling of cases over the past few days.

The teams have advised the state government to carry out more “focussed” testing in the two cities as they expected the rate of doubling of cases to be improved to at least 10 days from the existing rate of 7.01. The teams also reviewed the steps taken by the state government in terms of implementation of lockdown and social distancing.

They looked at the supply of essential commodities, preparedness of health facilities, and the arrangements for migrant workers.

The Central team, which visited parts of Mumbai over the past three days, is headed by Manoj Joshi, additional secretary, ministry of food processing industries, while the five-member team visiting Pune is headed by Sanjay Malhotra, additional secretary, ministry of power.

The teams were apprised that the highest number of tests were being performed in Maharashtra, among other states. Chief secretary Ajoy Mehta told the teams that the tests being conducted in Maharashtra are six times more than that in Kerala, which is being praised for containing Covid-19 speedily. Of the 90,000-plus tests conducted in Maharashtra, 55,000 are in Mumbai alone, with a rate of 4,270 tests per million.

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner Praveen Pardeshi informed in the meeting that the containment zones in non-slum areas in Mumbai are rapidly reducing. Mumbai has 930 containment zones, including 447 in non-slum areas. Pardeshi said that the tests in Dharavi have been increased and they conducted 1,180 tests on Thursday in the area.

CM Thackeray reiterated the need of more personal protection equipment (PPE) kits from the entre. The state government has also expressed for the need for clarity on usage of PPE kits and their manufacturing in domestic market. The state government assured the Central teams of the rigorous implementation of their instructions in terms of facilities at hospitals, quarantine facilities, tests in Pune and Mumbai.

Following the instructions by the teams, CM Thackeray directed the state authorities to look into the complaints of hardships faced by the non Covid patients. “Private clinics and hospitals should be directed to operate for non-Covid patients. The general public should be made aware about non-Covid hospitals and fever clinics,” he said.

State health minister Rajesh Tope, too, said that PPE kits will be provided to doctors as and when they are made available by the Centre, but they should be open for the patients facing other ailments.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar wrote to railway minister Piyush Goyal, seeking special trains to take migrant workers home as it may become a law-and-order problem.

In the letter, the deputy CM said that the migrant workers who have been staying at shelter camps will likely take to the streets on May 3, when the second phase of the lockdown ends. “This could lead to a law-and-order problem, like it happened in Bandra in Mumbai on the last day of the first lockdown,” read the letter.

On April 14, nearly 1,000 out-of-work migrant labourers gathered outside a railway station in Mumbai’s Bandra, hours after Prime Minister extended the lockdown to May 3 to check the spread of the coronavirus infections, demanding for trains to take them home. “The Railway ministry should plan well in advance for special trains for these workers to various parts of the country. The trains should be operated from Pune and Mumbai,” the minister wrote.

Earlier in the week, Thackeray assured migrant labourers in the state that his government would ensure that they are sent home once the lockdown is lifted. “I give you my word that the Maharashtra government will take you to your homes the day this crisis ends. I believe that when you go back to your homes, you should go back happily and not out of fear,” said the CM.

Manoj Josh, who headed the Central team, told HT, “After our visit to various parts of Mumbai, we had a meeting with Maharashtra CM and the officials. We will submit our report on the assessment to the Central government.”

When asked about the report purportedly submitted by his team projecting an exponential rise in cases in Mumbai by May 15, Joshi said that no such report was submitted by them and the team was not on a state visit for any such projection.

The team reportedly expressed their concerns on the hardships being faced by non-Covid-19 patients, owing to the closure of private dispensaries, clinics and hospitals. “The elders, facing other ailments, including heart diseases, diabetes, blood pressure, are suffering as private hospitals are not operational. The state government should ensure that they go operational at the earliest,” the team reportedly told the state government.

Health minister Rajesh Tope said that private practitioners have been demanding PPE kits, expressing reservations over their safety when treating patients. CM Thackeray expressed unhappiness over the short supply of PPE kits by the Centre. “Around 40,000 PPE kits are required per week in Mumbai alone. In absence of their supply from the Centre, the civic body has been managing from domestic manufacturers, but the Centre needs to bring clarity on permissions for the kits and their usage for the private practitioners,” he said.

Two days after reversing the relaxation of lockdown in the MMR and Pune Metropolitan Region (PMR), the state government on Thursday allowed pre-monsoon work to be carried out, along with construction of Metro lines in the two regions. Besides that, the state allowed food processing units, such as bread factories, milk-processing centres, flour and dal mills, shops of electric fans. The order issued on Thursday also allowed bedside attendants and caregivers to senior citizens residing in their homes and allowed facilities of export /import such as pack houses, treatment facilities for seed and horticulture produce, and research establishment dealing with agriculture and horticulture activities. Forestry plantation and related activities are also allowed.