Mumbai: A day after Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray sent a strong message to the citizens that the war against CoVID-19 will be won, Public Health Minister Rajesh Tope, on Thursday, said that the government’s coronavirus containment strategy and preparedness plan are yielding positive results. The focus on tracing, tracking, treatment and isolation is paying off, as the number of hotspots has fallen from 14 to 5, comprising the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Pune Metropolitan Region, Nagpur, Nashik and Malegaon.
‘’There is no need to panic. The death rate has fallen from seven to five. On the other hand, the doubling rate of CoVID-19 cases has slowed down further to 7.1 days from five days. The government is providing treatment to coronavirus patients as per the guidelines issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR),’’ Tope said. He further informed that in the MMR, where positive cases have crossed 3,683, adequate focus is now being laid on increasing institutional quarantine facilities.
Tope said some health experts are predicting a spurt in the coronavirus cases in the state between April 30 and May 15. "However, this will happen only if people violate lockdown norms," the minister said.
Tope stated that out of the total 76,000 tests for coronavirus conducted in the state so far, Mumbai city alone accounts for more than 50,000 tests. “This is chiefly because Mumbai has a very high number of positive cases," the health minister said.
Tope said that the government has set up two committees to study the deaths, which have crossed 269. The current phase of the lockdown will remain in force till May 3.
Tope strongly justified the government’s decision of not undertaking large-scale testing of asymptomatic people who don’t show signs of the viral infection. “If a person does not show symptoms, his test may come negative. But the incubation period of the coronavirus is 14 days. So, he or she may develop the symptoms later. Hence, we are not doing asymptomatic tests in large numbers,” Tope said.
