Maha sees record 24-hour spike of 1,233 infections

Maharashtra on Wednesday recorded its highest single-day jump of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases with 1,233 infections, taking the tally to 16,758. It also

Maharashtra on Wednesday recorded its highest single-day jump of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases with 1,233 infections, taking the tally to 16,758. It also recorded 34 deaths on Wednesday, taking the toll to 651.

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Maharashtra’s doubling rate currently stands at 10 days, as it crossed the 8,000-mark on April 26.

Of the new cases, Mumbai recorded 769 Covid-19 cases, taking the state capital’s tally to 10,714. Of the deaths registered on Wednesday, 25 were in Mumbai, three each in Pune and Akola, and one each in Jalgaon and Solapur. A resident of Uttar Pradesh died in Mumbai. The toll in Mumbai is now 412.

Mumbai alone accounts for 63.93% of the cases in the state and therefore the state government is focusing on strengthening medical infrastructure in view of a likely spike in the number of cases.

As per one of the several projections of the Central government (and going by the current doubling rate of 10 days), Mumbai could see around 29,000 cases by mid-May.

According to a senior bureaucrat, the Centre had projected a spike in mid-May and by the end of the month. Therefore the state is acting to make the necessary arrangements. The official said that the state is ramping up the number of intensive care unit (ICU) beds and ordering around 15,000 private doctors in Mumbai to go on Covid-19 duty.

Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray interacted with Central agencies, including the Indian Army, Indian Navy, Ministry of Railways and Mumbai Port Trust, on the matter of availability of their hospitals in Mumbai, Pune and other major cities as “part of preparedness”.

“As part of the planning, the State Government has requested hospitals, institutions & buildings under the management of the Railways, Mumbai Port Trust, Indian Army, Navy and other Central Gov. undertakings to make their facilities available across Maharashtra. This is to make sure there is availability of ICU beds & isolation centres as a part of preparedness,” the chief minister’s office tweeted.

State health minister Rajesh Tope held a meeting with Union health minister Harsh Vardhan on the preparation and planning related to the pandemic. Tope said that the state has issued a notification, making it mandatory for private doctors in Mumbai to report to hospitals for treatment of Covid-19 patients.

“The decision on private doctors was taken, considering the demand in the coming day. Currently, as per the Department of Medical Education and Research (DMER), there are about 15,000 doctors in Mumbai who are at home. I appeal to private doctors that the state needs you now and they should participate in this work. The services of the doctors would primarily be for Mumbai. If needed, their services can be used elsewhere as well,” Tope told reporters on Wednesday.

The state government has asked private doctors who are below age of 55 and ones without comorbidity to report with immediate effect to Covid-19 dedicated hospitals for treatment of patients, the minister said.

Failure to report to the hospital will lead to their medical license being revoked. The government has invoked the Epidemic Diseases Act, Disaster Management Act, and Maharashtra Essential Services Maintenance Act to issue the above-mentioned order.

The minister added that outside Mumbai, private doctors should start their practices and assured that the state would provide them Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits through district collectors if required.

Union health minister Harsh Vardhan has raised concerns as 34 out of the 36 districts in Maharashtra have Covid-19 cases. He later spoke to the chief minister and assured all help required to keep the number of cases in check. Tope, in the meeting with the Union minister, also took up the issue of making hospitals under the Central agencies available to Maharashtra. The patients who have tested positive and are asymptomatic can be kept in train coaches that are repurposed as isolation wards by the Indian Railways. “We have sought the availability of hospitals from Central agencies. During the meeting, the Union minister said that the Army and Navy hospitals should be kept as a last resort. For now, he would speak to the Railways [for its facilities],” he said.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is looking at reviewing its guidelines for discharge of asymptomatic patients by reducing the period they have to be kept in hospital from 14 days to seven days. “We are awaiting new guidelines from the ICMR. They would reduce the period from 14 days to seven. Besides the number of tests required before discharging them from the hospital may also be reduced from two tests to one,” the minister said. The move would also help make more hospital beds available in hospitals.

Maharashtra, which has 54 testing laboratories including 24 private labs, has so far tested 1,90,879 samples. Out of which, 1,73,838 have tested negative. “Daily we are testing around 8,000 to 10,000 samples. Maharashtra is number one in the count for tests per million. Due to all these reasons, too, we are seeing more cases,” Tope said.

The mortality rate in the state has gone under 4%, even as the toll continues to rise. The number of patients discharged has crossed 3,000-mark on Wednesday with 275 people recovered. Mumbai civic chief Praveen Pardeshi gave a presentation on the preparedness plan for Mumbai, while Dr Sanjay Oak, under whom a taskforce has been set up to tackle coronavirus-related deaths, made a presentation on the treatment protocol for critical patients during the cabinet meeting held on Wednesday evening in Mumbai.