Maharashtra saw 9,000 more cases at the end of 2nd lockdown

From 2,684 on April 14, cases rose to 12,974 on May 3; govt rules out community transmission

Maharashtra saw around 9,000 more Covid-19 cases and 330 deaths during the second lockdown, according to data from the state health ministry. The state health department feels the situation would have been far worse without the lockdown.

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At the end of the first lockdown, on April 14, the cases in the state stood at 2,684, with 178 deaths. By the end of the three weeks of the lockdown on May 2, the cases are 12,296 with 521 deaths. In Mumbai, the case count was 1,756 with 112 deaths on April 14, which went up to 8,359, with 322 deaths on May 2.

On May 3, 678 new cases were reported, taking the state tally to 12,974 and death toll touched 548. Mumbai recorded 441 new cases on Sunday taking tally to 8,800 with 343 deaths.

Dr Pradip Awate, state disease surveillance officer, said, “The government has enforced the lockdown measures very well. The cases have increased, but we can’t ignore that we have controlled the doubling rate of corona cases from 2.5-3 days to 9 days. Without it, the situation could have been far worse and the numbers higher. The lockdown is helping us break the chain. We have also successfully managed to keep our mortality rate at 4.24%, better than the world’s 7.04%.”

Till May 2, around 2,000 people have recovered. In the last one week, the state has witnessed a huge jump in the cured category. The administration has also been creating containment zones wherever cases are rising to check local transmission. The spike in the cases in the last few days has been sharp, with a rise of 1008 cases reported on Friday and an increase of 790 in the next 24 hours.

The official, however, turned down the possibility of community transmission. “We can say the infection is being transmitted locally and not on community level. The cases are increasing in areas where people are not following social distancing norms seriously. I urge people to do that,” said Dr Awate.