Maharashtra: Cases of hospitalisation go up; most patients were at events

MUMBAI/NAGPUR: Covid-19 cases in Mumbai went past 700 for the second day running on Thursday. Dr Gautam Bhansali, a physician from Bombay Hospital, said Covid admissions have doubled since last week. “We have 30-35 patients now compared to a dozen-odd we had in the last couple of weeks. Most have a history of attending a wedding or some social gathering,” he said.Mumbai’s doubling rate dropped to 417 days with the jump in cases, while the growth rate of cases is now up to 0.17%.

With the spurt in Covid-19 cases in the state, especially in various districts of Vidarbha, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar said on Thursday that the state government has given powers to the district collectors to impose restrictions, and they can even impose a ‘lockdown’ if required. Imposition of a complete lockdown requires the Centre’s permission, so the local administrations in three districts of Vidarbha -- Amravati, Yavatmal and Akola – have been told to impose major restrictions which are lockdown-like but fall just short of the definition of total lockdown. For instance, the authorities said they would not like to curb essential commute, which too stands barred in a complete lockdown.
So all 11 districts of Vidarbha will have curbs in place this weekend, with mostly essential services remaining operational. The main objective is to stop crowding and ban super-spreader events like marriage functions, processions and public gatherings, officials said.
Dr Subhash Salunkhe, an advisor to the Maharashtra government who has been touring Amravati and Akola, called the viral activity there “unusual.”According to him, the virus seemed more transmissible as entire families are infected.
The daily positivity rate of Akola district is 32%, while weekly positivity rate is 24%. Amravati has a daily positivity rate of 48% and weekly positivity rate of 35%, while Yavatmal district has reported a daily and weekly positivity rate of 15%. The daily positivity rate of the state is 8.8%.
Even after the weekend, establishments in these districts would stay open till 8 pm only. The Nagpur Municipal Corporation has not announced any night curfew or weekend shutdown so far, but strict restrictions have imposed on marriage functions, processions and community gatherings. It has been made mandatory for marriage hall and lawn owners to get prior permission from assistant commissioner-level officers before hosting any marriage functions or public gatherings.
In Akola, schools and colleges will stay closed. In Yavatmal, fine on those who don’t wear masks or fail to maintain distancing has been hiked to Rs 1,000. The administration has denied permission to the ‘Kisan Mahapanchayat’ scheduled to be held in Yavatmal next week. Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait was to address it.