Maharashtra sees rise in Covid cases: ‘No lockdown yet, but keeping watch’

The Maharashtra government is unlikely to impose a fresh lockdown, amid a steady spike in Covid-19 cases, as it continues to monitor the situation. However, Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar said the government may have to take some harsh decisions as people have stopped observing Covid-appropriate behaviour.

According to data released by the government on Monday, Maharashtra reported 3,365 new Covid cases, 23 deaths and 3,105 recoveries. In total, India’s worst-affected state has reported 2,067,643 cases, 51,552 deaths and 1,978,708 recoveries. Monday was the sixth consecutive day the state reported more than 3,000 Covid-19 infections (from February 10 to 15, it recorded 3,451; 3,297; 3,670; 3,611; 4,092 and 3,365 cases respectively), alarming authorities as the graph had hit a plateau over the past three months.

Meanwhile, Pawar said he will discuss the Covid-19 situation with chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday. State health minister Rajesh Tope said the state government has directed all district collectors and municipal commissioners to strictly follow the 3T principle (testing, tracking and treatment) and increase Covid-19 testing at all places where a spike in cases is seen. Tope ruled out an immediate lockdown in the state, but said the local administration will take measures to ensure Covid-appropriate behaviour is followed by the people at large.

According to state officials, several factors, including restarting of local trains for general public, increased mingling among groups and non-compliance of Covid-19 appropriate behaviour are some of the reasons behind rise in daily cases across the state, including Mumbai, in the past five days. About 3.5 million people have been travelling by suburban trains that run in Mumbai and neighbouring areas since local trains were opened for general public with restricted hours on February 1. Besides, there is a spurt in activities as the state government has gradually removed restrictions on various activities, including permission for restaurants and shops to operate till 1am and 11pm respectively.

The spike in cases has prompted the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to have a second thought about further unlocking or relaxations in the city, including increasing travel timings of suburban trains for the general public. Civic officials said they would watch the situation for a week and take any further decision on relaxation and unlocking on February 22. The city has been reporting over 500 cases since February 10. On February 15, it reported 493 cases, while on Sunday, the city recorded 645 Covid-19 cases followed by four deaths. Overall, the city has reported 314,569 Covid-19 cases followed by 11,422 deaths. The city’s recovery rate is 94% and mortality rate is 3.63%.

“People must follow Covid appropriate rules and the authorities should also ensure that they are strictly followed. They will also have to be held accountable if they find any negligence. If this is not done then lockdown is required to be re-imposed to control the situation like it is going on in many western countries. The United Kingdom is experiencing a third lockdown cycle,” Tope told reporters in Aurangabad. He added that lockdown is the last resort if the situation doesn’t improve.

Pawar said people have stopped using masks, which is very dangerous. “While touring this morning I saw villagers and people at large were not using masks at all. It is very dangerous and will cost us dearly. Tomorrow (Tuesday), we will be discussing the rise in Covid cases with the chief minister (Uddhav Thackeray). Maybe we have to take some harsh decisions,” Pawar told reporters.

The increase in cases in Mumbai has come ten days after local trains, considered to be the lifeline of the city, was restarted for the general public from February 1. General public is allowed to travel from the first train of the day up to 7am; 12pm to 4pm and later post 9pm till the last train.

On suspending local train services in Mumbai and surrounding cities, Tope said that they have started local train services only recently and that too with staggered timings. They have purposely decided not to keep timings for the common people comfortable only to avoid crowding in trains. “We are monitoring the situation and see no reason to take extreme steps immediately. It is a fact that Covid cases have increased, but they have gone up by not more than 500. It has certainly alarmed us and our focus will be on the preventive measures to bring back the situation under control. Lockdown restrictions and suspending local train services would be the last step in this process,” the health minister said.

Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner of BMC, said, “We are not taking any decision for now. We will monitor the situation until February 22 and post this, a decision on further unlocking will be taken.”

According to data released by the government on Monday, the state reported 3,365 new Covid cases, 23 died and 3,105 recovered. So far, the state has reported 2,067,643 cases, 51,552 people have died and 1,978,708 have recovered.