Maha Covid toll past 22K; tally is 682,383

Maharashtra on Sunday recorded 10,441 new Covid-19 cases in the state, taking its tally to 682,383. The state crossed 22,000 fatalities with 258 deaths on Sunday, pushing the toll to 22,253.

HT Image

Of the fatalities recorded on Sunday, 213 were from the previous 48 hours and 23 were from last week. The remaining 22 deaths were from the period before last week. The case fatality rate (CFR) in the state stood at 3.26%. With 8,157 people discharged on Sunday, the tally of the people recovered improved to 488,271. The state now has 171,542 active cases.

Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said on Sunday that the next 10 days were crucial for the state’s battle against coronavirus. The state is anticipating a rise in cases with the increased movement of people during festivals, including Ganeshotsav and Muharram. Speaking via video conferencing during the commissioning of an 800-bed dedicated Covid hospital in Pune, Thackeray said the state is preparing health infrastructure in the state to fight in case there is a second wave.

“The next phase is quite important for the state. The next eight-10 days are going to be crucial as Ganpati festival is on, Paryushan of the Jain community is going on, Muharram is also in a few days. Along with these festivals, there is monsoon, which brings diseases,” he said.

State health department officials said that with opening up of restrictions in the state, they have seen an increase in cases, and the trend is expected to continue.

The CM said though the situation in Mumbai is getting “under control” he cautioned the authorities against getting negligent to prevent a second wave of attack. Mumbai recorded 991 new infections on Sunday, taking the city’s tally to 136,353. It also recorded 34 fatalities, taking its toll to 7,422. Thackeray said that the administration should not remain lax as globally there is a second wave of Covid-19.

“A dedicated Covid facility is being commissioned in Pune, and two more will be added in this week. People ask me do we require so many facilities? We cannot remain careless. Absolutely not. Today, the situation is in Mumbai the situation is in control, but I am not letting rest. We are continuing with the tracing, tracking, testing, etc. Globally it is seen that after a wave, a second wave [of Covid] comes. We are striving so that no second wave comes, but if it comes, then what will we do? Earlier, we had a shortage of PPE kits, N95 masks, and ventilators,” the CM said in the speech at the event.

There have been demands from various quarters, including from leaders within the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi, to allow gymnasiums and religious places to open up. But so far the state has not taken a call.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has asked state governments to allow unrestricted movement of people and goods between states. The state, however, is yet to take a call in it.

The CM on Sunday indicated that the call to provide further relaxations will be taken cautiously to prevent another wave of transmission across the city and state. Thackeray said that the state is treading cautiously in opening up lockdown restrictions to “prevent a second wave”. He said, “When we say we want to resume our lives normally, then crowding is inevitable. We are opening things gradually, but while doing so we are also ensuring that a second wave does not start.”

The CM added that the state government is increasing testing facilities in the state and decreasing the turnaround time to get faster control over the situation. He added that the state is also looking at ways to further reduce the rates of RT-PCR tests.

He added that along with ramping up health infrastructure to fight the Covid battle, public awareness campaigns will pay off more to keep the virus at bay.

He said that till a vaccine is invented, masks, sanitisers and social distancing is the only remedy available for the people of the state.

“Union health minister Harsh Vardhan has said that vaccine would be possible by December only. So, we will have to remain cautious for the next four months. For now, our medicine or vaccine are masks, sanitisers, and social distancing. If we follow this, the spread of the virus will reduce drastically, this has been proven across the world…Therefore, these facilities, doctors, medicines, etc will be required, but along with that, awareness campaigns will be required to educate people. Once we get habituated to precautions, then we will not fall prey to coronavirus.”

Meanwhile, Pune city and its adjoining areas continued to record a chunk of the fresh cases on Sunday with Pune city adding 1,288 new cases, while Pune rural added 569 new cases, and Pimpri-Chinchwad recorded 679 cases. The district crossed 1.50 lakh confirmed cases on Sunday, and currently has 44,717 active cases. Pune district reported 67 fatalities, taking the district’s death toll to 3,741.

Nagpur city recorded 680 fresh infections taking its tally to 14,675 confirmed cases. It reported 22 fatalities on Sunday, taking its death toll to 434. Jalgaon district reported 627 new infections, with total going up to 22,049 cases. Nashik district reported 438 new cases, while Ahmednagar 497 new cases. Rural areas including Beed, Osmanabad, Latur, etc continued to report more cases. Osmanabad added 183 new cases, while Beed added 81 cases, and Latur district added 146 new infections.

Currently, 12,30,982 people are in home quarantine and 34,820 people are in institutional quarantine, the state health department said.