MUMBAI: Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday asked senior health officials to prepare for restrictions “similar to lockdown” if people continue to flout Covid norms in the state.
Maharashtra on Sunday recorded its highest ever single-day spike of 40,414 Covid-19 cases. Mumbai, too, recorded its highest ever tally of 6,933 cases on Sunday.
Thackeray’s announcement followed a high-level emergency meeting attended by state public health minister Rajesh Tope, the chief secretary, and members of the state Covid-19 task force on Sunday.
Thackeray said care should be taken to ensure essential services, including the supply of foodgrains, medicines, and medical services, are not hampered.
Cases in Maharashtra have risen exponentially in the last fortnight, with 3.9 lakh people testing positive for the virus; Between March 1 and March 28, over 5.4 lakh have been detected in the state while February saw only 1.3 lakh cases.
At present, the weekly positivity rate in Maharashtra is the highest in the country at 22.78%; the state conducts 1.5 lakh tests daily.
“Lockdown is the last resort, but we have to consider it because the healthcare infrastructure is crumbling. There are no beds available in the private sector and public-sector beds too are getting filled fast,” said task force member Dr Shashank Joshi who was a part of the Sunday meeting.
During the meeting, Thackeray said, “The government was trying hard to keep the economy afloat even during the pandemic situation, however, several factors are not being considered seriously.”
He pointed out that 50% attendance rules are not being followed by private establishments, wedding ceremonies are being organised without following Covid norms, wearing a mask and social distance norms are not being followed in market places.
“Ultimately, people’s health is our top priority. Hence, the chief secretary should plan the lockdown strategy and ensure the supply of essential commodities including food grains and medicines and health services should not be hampered, which has to do if people are not following the norms,” said the chief minister.
Thackeray, however, said that the health department should not only concentrate on Mumbai-Pune but also should look at the rural areas too and ensure that adequate isolation or health facilities should be made available through nearby cities, if not possible in the same place.
“We had gradually increased all the health facilities like setting up field hospitals, but considering the current situation, will it be adequate?” he said.
CM directed that there should not be shortage of ventilators while oxygen production should be kept 80% reserved for medical and 20% for other purposes.
He also instructed to ensure that the 80:20 formula is implemented in hospital beds and patients should not suffer. He directed the health department to take steps forward to provide e-ICU facilities to use on a large scale.
Doctor members of the state Covid Task Force pointed out that the increase in deaths could be due to an increase in infection, especially due to delay in hospitalisation without testing in time and not following the rules while in home isolation.
The new covid-19 positive cases may cross 40,000 in the next 24 hours. They compared the new cases found on Saturday which were at 35,726, the same number of cases in September 2020, when the daily highest number of cases touched 24,619, said task force members.
While explaining the current Covid-19 situation and the available health facilities in the state, Pradeep Vyas, principal secretary of the public health department, said the infection is spreading rapidly in the state and all the key health facilities, especially beds, ventilators and oxygen supply, would soon be under severe pressure and may not be made available for the general public.
Vyas further said of the total 3.57 lakh isolation beds, 1.07 lakh are already occupied and the remaining are being filled expeditiously. Of the 60,349-oxygen beds, 12,701 have been filled, and 1,881 of the 9,030 ventilators are in use right now. In many districts, beds are not available, and the capacity of health facilities is not able to cope up with the spread of disease, said Vyas.
Maharashtra on Sunday recorded its highest ever single-day spike of 40,414 Covid-19 cases. Mumbai, too, recorded its highest ever tally of 6,933 cases on Sunday.
Thackeray’s announcement followed a high-level emergency meeting attended by state public health minister Rajesh Tope, the chief secretary, and members of the state Covid-19 task force on Sunday.
Thackeray said care should be taken to ensure essential services, including the supply of foodgrains, medicines, and medical services, are not hampered.
Cases in Maharashtra have risen exponentially in the last fortnight, with 3.9 lakh people testing positive for the virus; Between March 1 and March 28, over 5.4 lakh have been detected in the state while February saw only 1.3 lakh cases.
At present, the weekly positivity rate in Maharashtra is the highest in the country at 22.78%; the state conducts 1.5 lakh tests daily.
“Lockdown is the last resort, but we have to consider it because the healthcare infrastructure is crumbling. There are no beds available in the private sector and public-sector beds too are getting filled fast,” said task force member Dr Shashank Joshi who was a part of the Sunday meeting.
During the meeting, Thackeray said, “The government was trying hard to keep the economy afloat even during the pandemic situation, however, several factors are not being considered seriously.”
He pointed out that 50% attendance rules are not being followed by private establishments, wedding ceremonies are being organised without following Covid norms, wearing a mask and social distance norms are not being followed in market places.
“Ultimately, people’s health is our top priority. Hence, the chief secretary should plan the lockdown strategy and ensure the supply of essential commodities including food grains and medicines and health services should not be hampered, which has to do if people are not following the norms,” said the chief minister.
Thackeray, however, said that the health department should not only concentrate on Mumbai-Pune but also should look at the rural areas too and ensure that adequate isolation or health facilities should be made available through nearby cities, if not possible in the same place.
“We had gradually increased all the health facilities like setting up field hospitals, but considering the current situation, will it be adequate?” he said.
CM directed that there should not be shortage of ventilators while oxygen production should be kept 80% reserved for medical and 20% for other purposes.
He also instructed to ensure that the 80:20 formula is implemented in hospital beds and patients should not suffer. He directed the health department to take steps forward to provide e-ICU facilities to use on a large scale.
Doctor members of the state Covid Task Force pointed out that the increase in deaths could be due to an increase in infection, especially due to delay in hospitalisation without testing in time and not following the rules while in home isolation.
The new covid-19 positive cases may cross 40,000 in the next 24 hours. They compared the new cases found on Saturday which were at 35,726, the same number of cases in September 2020, when the daily highest number of cases touched 24,619, said task force members.
While explaining the current Covid-19 situation and the available health facilities in the state, Pradeep Vyas, principal secretary of the public health department, said the infection is spreading rapidly in the state and all the key health facilities, especially beds, ventilators and oxygen supply, would soon be under severe pressure and may not be made available for the general public.
Vyas further said of the total 3.57 lakh isolation beds, 1.07 lakh are already occupied and the remaining are being filled expeditiously. Of the 60,349-oxygen beds, 12,701 have been filled, and 1,881 of the 9,030 ventilators are in use right now. In many districts, beds are not available, and the capacity of health facilities is not able to cope up with the spread of disease, said Vyas.