Nagpur: A day after the Union government sent an advisory to all states and union territories to keep a sharp watch on the situation in the wake of rising COVID-19 cases in some countries, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Mr Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday announced that the state government in consultation with the Union government will form a committee or task force to take further steps to tackle the situation.
Mr Fadnavis’ response came after the leader of opposition Mr Ajit Pawar referred to the Union government’s advisory demanding that the state government should step up its vigil and take additional measures.
Ajit Pawar says the government shouldn't be non-complacent
Mr Pawar argued that the state government should not be non-complacent as China has imposed strict lockdowns and patients are being kept in vehicles. Similarly, there has been an increase in COVID-19 cases in other countries.
Mr Pawar recalled a slew of decisions taken and implemented by the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi to combat the virus infection including the setting up of jumbo facilities and procurement of medicines and equipment.
‘’The government should take the Centre’s advisory seriously as the COVID-19 cases are rising in some countries. The government needs to set up a committee or task force to tackle the emerging situation,’’ he said.
Mr Fadnavis said the state government will soon take a decision in this regard.
On Tuesday, 20 new COVID 19 patients were reported while 33 were discharged in Maharashtra. There was no death. The state has cumulative COVID 19 patients of 8136368 while 7987824 have been discharged. The state has cumulative deaths of 148412 and there are 132 active patients as on Tuesday.
Union Health Secretary's advisory
The union health minister Mr Rajesh Bhushan in his letter dated December 20 had said, ‘’In view of the sudden spurt of cases being witnessed in Japan, United States of America, Korea, Brazil and China, it is essential to gear up the whole genome sequencing of positive case samples to track the variants through Indian SARS CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) network. Such as exercise will enable timely detection of newer variants, if any, circulating in the country and will facilitate undertaking of requisite public health measures for the state.’’
Mr Bhushan had asked the states and UTs to ensure that as far as possible samples of all positive cases, on a daily basis, are sent to the designated INSACOG Genome Sequencing Laboratories.
