Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray appealed to people to use face masks when outdoors and take necessary precautions to restrict a possible fourth wave of Covid-19 at the doorstep. He said the number of active coronavirus cases in the state was on the rise as compared to last month. His appeal has come in the wake of Mumbai recording 100 new cases for the second straight day on Wednesday.
Thackeray held a meeting with district collectors of the state in the evening in wake of rising coronavirus cases across the country. He said, “We must stop the fourth wave of corona(virus) at the threshold. If you don’t want restrictions again, follow self-discipline; use of mask, vaccination is inevitable.”
He emphasised on reverting to Covid-appropriate behaviour, including use of face masks in crowded places, social distancing and completion of vaccination on time. “The threat of Covid-19 is not yet over. We need to arrest the spread of infection while it is at the doorstep,” he said, adding that there are “40 crore people in China’s various cities who are witnessing a lockdown”.
“We have battled the previous three waves of the novel coronavirus and its variants, but we have lost many people to the infection. State authorities need to sensitise people again about the Covid-19 protocols to minimise the impact and spread of the infection,” Thackeray said.
While the CM insisted on increasing inoculation, a presentation made at the review showed that 1,77,90,194 people had still not taken the second dose of Covid vaccine.
Maharashtra had removed all pandemic-related restrictions on April 2 on the occasion of Gudhi Padwa, the Marathi New Year. State health minister Rajesh Tope, however, had urged people to voluntarily wear masks to prevent the spread of the virus.
Tope said there was no need to panic as active cases were still below 1,000. The number of cases per million in the state was far less than other states, he said, adding, “Maharashtra is in a safe zone.”
Maharashtra on Tuesday recorded 153 new infections, including 102 in state capital Mumbai, which saw its highest one-day rise (on Tuesday) after February 27.
Tope further said Delhi had made masks mandatory and was even imposing a penalty of Rs 500. Mask restrictions were back in districts of Uttar Pradesh adjoining Delhi, he added. “The general discussion in the health department is that masks be made compulsory at crowded places,” he said.
As on Wednesday, active cases stood at 929, Tope said. The state has witnessed over 56,000 to 70,000 active cases at one point. The minister said 25,000 daily tests were being conducted on an average and this number will be ramped up. Contact tracing will also be intensified, he added.
Maharashtra did not have any new variant of SARS-CoV-2, but genome sequencing will be ramped up nevertheless, he said. The health minister said on the vaccination front, Maharashtra was ranking near the national average, but was behind in the inoculation of children in the age group of 12 to 15 and 15 to 17 years.
Some parts of the country are reporting a gradual increase in infections with the national capital registering over 1,000 cases daily over the past few days. Delhi reported 1,367 fresh infections, as per data shared by the health department on Wednesday. It was the sixth consecutive day that the capital recorded over 1,000 new daily cases.
(With PTI inputs)
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