Maharashtra govt expects COVID-19 cases to rise exponentially in last week of January and early February, says CM Uddhav Thackeray

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, who chaired the state cabinet meeting on Wednesday, said the state will report exponential rise in COVID-19 patients in the last week of January and first week of February which is a matter of serious concern. Thackeray has directed the district administration to strengthen the health infrastructure to treat the rising number of patients and also increase the pace of vaccination.

Thackeray said at present the daily demand for medical oxygen has increased to 400 metric tonnes comprising 250 MT for non-COVID and 150 MT for COVID patients and if it surges to 700 metric tonnes per day then the government will have to further introduce strict restrictions. He asked the administration to do comprehensive planning to meet the oxygen demand.

On the other hand, Public Health Minister Rajesh Tope admitted that the vaccination rate in the state is below national level and the government has asked the districts to increase its pace. ‘’Vaccination rate have come down. This is despite the fact that health workers are widely available for vaccination. Against daily administration of 8 to 10 lakh vaccine doses, at present it has been around 6.50 lakh. It needs to be ramped up. Nearly 90 per cent of the eligible beneficiaries have taken their first vaccine shot while 62% have received two doses. About 35% from the age group of 15-18 years have been vaccinated so far,’’ he said.

Tope said that the state government has urged the Centre to supply 60 lakh doses of Covaxin and 40 lakh of Covishield.

The minister said daily 2 lakh RT-PCR tests are conducted in the state adding that the department has also instructed to conduct rapid antigen tests. ‘’The department has asked to collect data of those who are conducting COVID tests at home. If the test reports are positive they will have to inform the nearby COVID-19 centre,’’ he noted.

Tope said the schools in the state will remain closed for at least the next 15 to 20 days and the government will take decision on reopening after reviewing the ground situation. He made it clear that the restrictions will not be relaxed till end of January or early February considering the rise in cases.