Second Covid-19 wave can hit like tsunami, warns Maharashtra CM

Even as chief minister Uddhav Thackeray expressed the possibility of a potential second wave of Covid-19 infections, Maharashtra continued with its trend of dip

Even as chief minister Uddhav Thackeray expressed the possibility of a potential second wave of Covid-19 infections, Maharashtra continued with its trend of dip in cases over the past few weeks, reporting 5,052 new cases that took the tally to 17,19,858 on Sunday. With the addition of 110 new deaths, the state’s toll touched 45,240.

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Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday warned people not to lower their guard, as the second wave could prove to be a ‘tsunami’. “We will have to follow the three-point protocol of social distancing, masking the face and washing hands to keep the spread of the virus at the bay. Diwali is coinciding with the onset of winter which sees a drop in the temperature. Countries like Italy, Spain, England and the Netherlands have been witnessing the second wave of Covid-19 that are more severe than the first ones. We do not want it to emerge in Maharashtra and it is possible only if we continue our disciplined appearance in public life. The state machinery is ready to take up the burden of the surge, but common people too should adopt Covid-appropriate behaviour,” he said during his public address through social media on Sunday.

Mumbai crossed the 1,000 mark after a week, with 1,003 cases taking the tally to 2,64,545. The death toll touched 10,445 after the addition of 23 new deaths.

Pune district continued to report second highest cases by adding 512 cases (216 in city, 185 in rural parts and 111 in Pimpri-Chichwad). Pune also reported 15 deaths. Nagpur logged 452 cases, Nashik 420 and Ahmednagar 196. With 1,771 cases in the past 24 hours, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) accounted for 35.05% of the total cases in the state.

The number of active patients fell to 96,373 after 8,232 patients were reported to have recovered in the past 24 hours. The number of active patients in Pune dropped below Mumbai as Pune has 17,279 active patients, while the later has 17,603. State’s recovery rate improved to 91.71%, while the case fatality rate stands at 2.63%.

The CM also warned of strict action against violation of Covid-19 guidelines. “A positive patient can further infect 400 people and they again infect many in multiplicity. We have directed the machinery to take strict action against people not wearing masks.”

Dr Avinash Supe, head of the state-appointed death audit committee, said they do not expect the surge to be as high as witnessed in September. “Varying temperatures with more than 10 degrees, which is witnessed in Mumbai, helps virus grow faster. Besides, the pollution recorded during Diwali, crowding during festivals and opening up of activities will lead to a rise in cases by November-end. The spike depends on the discipline maintained by people and is manageable if people follow the Covid-19 guidelines well.”

A total of 62,004 tests were performed in the past 24 hours with the daily positivity rate of 8.14%, though the overall positivity rate stands at 18.22%. The state has 10,51,321 people under home quarantine and 7,912 in institutional quarantine.