No community transmission in state: Health min

Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope on Sunday said that no community transmission has been found in the state and Maharashtra is still in the second stage of

Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope on Sunday said that no community transmission has been found in the state and Maharashtra is still in the second stage of the Covid-19 (coronavirus disease) transmission. The minister insisted that all efforts are being put in to ensure that the stage is not advanced to the third stage and the number of affected people is minimised.

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With ten new positive patients reported in Maharashtra, the total number of cases in the state has reached 74.

Tope said, “It is not true that we are moving to phase 3 and there was no need to panic. We need to be alert by maintaining social distancing and self-discipline.”

The state administration has tested 1,876 samples so far, of which 1,592 are negatives, while the reports of 210 people are awaited. In all, 284 international travellers, who returned to Mumbai, have been kept under observation, while 7,452 are under home quarantine. Currently, 791 are being quarantined at the hospitals and institutions of which, 273 have now been asked to quarantine themselves at home, an official statement by the state government stated.

Tope said that of the ten patients tested positive on Sunday, four had travel history while six had come in the contacts of the patients with the international travel history. He said that the second patient who died due to the infection in the state was in a private hospital in South Mumbai had a medical history of diabetes, hypertension and ischemic heart ailments.

The 63-year old patient had an angioplasty surgery 12 years ago and had gone to Surat 15 days ago. The patient was admitted to the hospital on March 17 after he complained of fever, shivering and dry cough and was on a ventilator. His wife too has been tested positive, the statement said. “We are appealing to people to take care of the children and the elderly and boost their morale,” the minister said. The government statement said that a relative of the patient from Bharati Vidyapeeth, Pune has been tested positive for coronavirus on Sunday.