Keypoints:
- A Maharashtra Minister has said that if a third wave strikes the country, 50 lakh people, including 5 lakh children could be infected in Maharashtra.
- After the Centre alerted the states regarding the Delta plus cases, Maharashtra partly reversed its 5-level unlocking plan.
The third wave in Maharashtra could be devastating, it could infect 50 lakh people out of which 10% of it – 5 lakh could be children. At the peak of the third wave, the active cases in the state could reach 8 lakhs. In the Cabinet meeting, the government discussed these probabilities with its experts and task force, before the government decided to bring back some of the restrictions to the states by partly reversing the unlock process.
As reported by news agency PTI, Maharashtra Food and Drug Minister Rajendra Shingne said that, “About five lakh children may be infected, out of which 2.5 lakh may need admission in government hospitals. All these possibilities were discussed during this week’s cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.”
On Friday, Health Ministry Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal explained that Maharashtra may be at greater risk from the 3rd wave and that’s why the state was already alerted.
He said that, “When a virus replicates, some mutations aid to the virus’ additional survival. When there are many cases, the virus may get more scope to get replicated.” He added that waves are less of a concern now. “That we have allowed the waves to aggravate by our negligent behaviour is more of a concern,” Agarwal said.
On Friday, Director-General of the Indian Council of Medical Research Dr Balram Bhargava said that some districts in Maharashtra still have over 5% positivity rate, which is a matter of concern. The districts are Raigad, Sangli, Sindhudurg, Satara, Pune, Ratnagiri, Kolhapur, Palghar and Osmanabad. Dr. Bhargava said that, “This is a good step that the state has brought back restrictions in Maharashtra.”
It was in April that the first Delta Plus variant in India was detected from a sample which has proved that the variant has been there for quite some time. The state has the highest number of Delta Plus cases. An 80 year old woman was detected with the variant and she succumbed to death on Friday. It was the first death from Delta Plus.
