Keypoints:
- Maharashtra reported 16,620 fresh Covid cases on Sunday which took the state’s tally to 2,314,413.
- It is the first time since October that the state has recorded over 16,000 cases on a single day.
- State could witness daily high cases until April, mostly will not surpass the peak it had achieved in September 2020.
On Monday, Maharashtra’s Health Minister Rajesh Tope said that if the situation in certain districts does not improve, a lockdown will be imposed in those districts reporting a high number of COVID cases. On Sunday, India registered 16,620 fresh cases which took the tally to 2,314,413.
“Corona cases are increasing, if the situation deteriorates then lockdown will be announced in districts that will report more cases. Around 20 lakh people in Mumbai have been fined for not following Covid norms”, said Tope.
“Eighty-five per cent of the total covid cases in the state are asymptomatic. Therefore, most of them have been advised to quarantine at their homes. As a result, there is no shortage of hospital beds in the state at present, ”Tope said.
Responding to the rising number of COVID cases, the state government has responded to it by imposing restrictions in several cities and districts including Nagpur. Nagpur will observe a strict week long lockdown starting from March 15 to March 21.
For the first time, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) contributed fewer cases to the daily tally.MMR, which comprises nine municipal corporations, including Mumbai and the rural areas of Thane, Palghar and Raigad districts, however, continues to be the most affected region in Maharashtra.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray has warned hotels, restaurants and malls to follow COVID-19 appropriate standard operating procedures (SOPs) that have been laid down by the government.
The COVID-19 recovery rate of Maharashtra is 92.21 per cent, while the fatality rate is 2.28 per cent. There are 1,26,231 active cases in the state at present.
