Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday held a conference in which he discussed the current state of Covid-19 in the province.
Speaking, Uddhav said that although there has been a decline in daily coronavirus cases, the current numbers in Maharashtra are close to the highest number of past waves. He also added that cases of coronavirus were growing in other parts of Maharashtra.
He also announced that the deadline was extended by 15 days, which will be valid until June 15 now. “Depending on the number of districts, certain restrictions will be imposed,” Uddhav said.
The Maharashtra government later this evening released a new set of 15-day closure guidelines.
Under the new set of guidelines, all essential stores currently permitted to operate between 7-11 a.m. may be permitted to operate between 7 a.m to 2 p.m.
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Uddhav, during the address, added, “You can’t say when the third wave of coronavirus will come; we should not give up.” ‘We need to ensure that even if there is a 3rd wave of COVID-19, the economy must continue to move. We will look at strengthening borders in some regions and providing relief in others. “
Ddhav also added that Maharashtra’s oxygen production capacity was 12,500 MT, which increased to 13,000 MT, but nonetheless, daily demands increased to 17,000 MT.
In terms of the Covid-19 immunization policy in the province, Uddhav added that as the provinces take responsibility for vaccinating people aged 18-44, the Maharashtra government will speed up the immunization process as soon as we get vaccinated.
“I recently spoke with Prime Minister, with regards to changes needed in the relief aid provided during natural calamities. National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) should be given more assistance. I hope Centre will provide help in this regard,” he said,
“Will keep vaccination on for 24 hrs once we receive vaccines and keep extending time for vaccination as we receive more vaccines,” he added.
He also said that the state has made separate arrangements for vaccinating students wanting to go abroad.
“Even though patient numbers are dropping, we are still at the levels of last year’s peak,” Thackeray said.
The “Majha doctor” initiative of the state government will help reach out to family doctors to avoid overmedication and hospitalisation of asymptomatic cases, he said.
“There is a difference between the COVID-19 virus variant between last time and this time. It is more virulent now, spreading fast and taking longer for the patient to recover,” he said.
“We also have another devil to deal with: black fungus. We have 3,000 cases of mucormycosis in the state. The coronavirus task force is keeping track,” he said.
These announcements comes in the backdrop of the state witnessing a dip in novel coronavirus cases for the past few days amid the current strict Covid restrictions imposed across.
It comes just before the ongoing state-wide Covid-19 restrictions, which were to end by 1 June, was extended for another two weeks earlier this week.
On Friday, Health Minister Rajesh Tope had informed that the lockdown-like restrictions in the state have been extended for the next two weeks.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra on Sunday reported a significant dip in its daily Covid-19 count with over 18,000 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, according to the health bulletin.
With today’s numbers, the state’s total Covid-19 tally has reached 5,731,815. Along with that, the state Maharashtra reported 402 Covid-related fatalities, taking the death toll to 94,844, the bulletin showed further.
The low caseload today has been witnessed after over 2 months. the state has last reported nearly 18,000 cases on 16 March with 17,864 new cases in the 24-hour period.
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