Maharashtra virus tally crosses 3,000; city’s count 2,073

India’s worst-hit state, Maharashtra, crossed a grim mark of 3,000 coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases on Thursday, with the addition of 286 new infections. The

India’s worst-hit state, Maharashtra, crossed a grim mark of 3,000 coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases on Thursday, with the addition of 286 new infections. The state, which accounts for a fourth of the country’s tally, has so far reported 3,202 cases and 194 deaths, including seven on Thursday.

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The state’s capital, Mumbai, which is the country’s most affected city, saw 177 more patients on Thursday, taking its tally past 2,000 to 2,073, and reported three deaths. The city’s death toll is now 117. The other four deaths were from Pune. The state government said that there was a drop in the rate of doubling of cases and an increase in the number of patients recovering.

The state government has also started planning to relax lockdown restrictions in about half its districts from next week, by allowing industrial operations and intra-district movements.

Of the day’s deaths, four of them were above 60 years of age, while the remaining were above 40 years. Six had underlying ailments, including diabetes, heart ailment, asthma and high blood pressure, read a statement released by the state health department. The state has conducted 56,673 tests at various public and private facilities, and has marked 297 active containment zones. A total of 5,664 survey teams, comprising doctors and assisting staff, have screened more than 20.50 lakh people. A total of 300 patients have been discharged from hospitals, while 71,076 people in the state are home quarantined and 6,108 are under institutional quarantine.

State health minister Rajesh Tope said the rate of doubling of cases has improved to 5.5 days, from 2 and 3.5 days a few days ago. “We expect to improve it further. It is true that the mortality rate in the state is high at 7%, but it’s owing to comorbid issues in patients. 83% deaths are related to underlying ailments such as diabetes, and ailments related to heart and kidney. We have also formed a task force of experts to suggest measures to minimise the death rate and clinical management of Covid-19 patients who are critically ill,” he said.

He said that the percentage of patients being discharged after recovery has increased.

“Our focus on expediting the recovery has been reaping fruits as the rate of discharged patients has increased. 300 patients have been discharged so far,” he said. The minister said that only 2.5% of the 51,000 tests conducted turned positive.

He said that six more labs are expected to be added to the existing 36 laboratories. “We are expecting approval from the ICMR to our proposal of pool-testing rapid testing,” he said. He said that all 1,400 people from Maharashtra, who had attended the international congregation at Nizamuddin in Delhi, have been traced, quarantined and tested. “Only 50 of them are diagnosed with Covid-19, the rest are kept in quarantine facilities,” he said.

The state government is also planning to relax the lockdown restriction in the state from April 20. The relaxation will, however, be in the non-affected areas and limited only to the essential services, industries and agriculture sectors by strict following of the lockdown norms. Tope clarified that no public gathering will be allowed nor will educational institutions, such as school and colleges, be allowed to function.

The state government is also planning to increase the workforce in government offices to 33%, according to the Central government. In a video conference on Thursday, top-level officials held discussion on the guidelines by the Central government. “Based on the notification issued by the Centre, we have already included a few auxiliary sectors in exempted essential activities. The districts with no Covid-19 patients or less than 15 patients can have more relaxed lockdown restrictions,” said an official on the condition of anonymity.

There are seven districts with no patients and four other districts, where rural parts are unaffected. These districts will get maximum relief although all the activities will be within the district boundaries, which have been sealed. The districts with less than 15 patients are expected to get relief in unaffected areas. However the most affected areas, mostly governed by municipal corporations, will continue with the strict implementation of lockdown, said the official.

Industries minister Subhash Desai said the state government was considering to allow industrial operations in at least 20 districts, which have either no case or very few cases from April 20. “Following the Centre’s guidelines for the second phase of lockdown and by using our own powers, we are preparing a proposal to begin industrial operations in some districts. The industrial units, following the standard operating procedures (SOP) laid down and making arrangements for their employees, would be allowed to commence operations,” he said. The minister said that the industrial units will have to make arrangements for the shelter and transportation of workers. According to officials, the state government has planned to begin operations of at least 60% MSMEs by the end of the month.

Palghar district in MMR saw a sudden spurt in cases over the past few days after a 3-year old daughter of brick workers and two intern doctors tested positive for the virus. “We have 75 patients, including 62 in Vasai-Virar, who have tested positive. Its spread in remote areas is a matter of worry for us. All contacts of the doctors who tested positive are being traced. Our priority is containment of the spread, for which we have identified five hotspots,” said Kailash Shinde, Palghar collector.

According to officials from the state government, the doubling rate of cases is a little over five days. “Our aim is to contain it at that rate, if not improved, immediately. Endeavours are put in to ensure that the doubling rate does not drop below 4. In such a scenario, the condition can be said to be under control. Our major concern is areas like Dharavi and Worli, where the number of patients are rising rapidly. But with full focus on these areas, we expect it to be contained soon,” the officer said.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former education minister Vinod Tawde, while attacking the state government for suppressing the freedom of press by arresting a journalist, has also criticised its failure in handling the Covid-19 pandemic. Tawde said that journalists are being booked to cover government failures in handling the Bandra crowding incident on Tuesday. “A journalist of a Marathi channel was arrested, holding him responsible for the crowding of migrants outside Bandra station. In fact, it was a failure of the government and the action against the journalist was just to cover its own failure in handling law and order. The state government has also failed to handle the pandemic effectively. It has not even done adequate financial arrangements to combat the outbreak,” he said in a video statement.