As the number of COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra is reaching new highs every day, the state's Health Minister Rajesh Tope has now opened up about the measures that the government is planning to take to curb the spread of coronavirus.
Key Points
- There is no decision to stop local train operations in Mumbai as of now.
- There has been discussion about the weekend lockdown but no decision has been taken yet.
- Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will decide about the same after discussing this with Sharad Pawar.
- In Mumbai and Maharashtra, 80 percent of the beds are currently lying vacant.
- Oxygen demand has not increased
On Wednesday, Health Minister Tope had said that 100 percent lockdown is not required as of now, but stressed the need to impose restrictions wherever there is crowding.
He said the silver lining is that 90 percent of the cases are asymptomatic. Of the 10 percent symptomatic patients, only one to two percent require hospitalisation.
The state has seen a sharp rise in the daily cases since the last two weeks.
Meanwhile, Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar on Tuesday said if the daily COVID-19 cases cross the 20,000-mark, a lockdown will be imposed in Mumbai as per the Union government's rules.
She had also suggested that people wear triple-layer masks while traveling by public buses and local trains.
The mayor had also appealed to citizens to get vaccinated at the earliest and follow all COVID-19-related standard operating procedures (SOPs).
Meanwhile, Maharashtra on Wednesday reported 26,538 fresh coronavirus positive cases, including 15,166 in Mumbai, the highest-ever daily count in the metropolis, and eight fatalities, civic officials and the state health department said.
