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Mumbai:
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will lead a cabinet meet at 3 pm to discuss the deeply worrying surge in coronavirus cases in the state over the past few weeks.
The meeting – to be conducted via video conferencing to maintain social distancing – is expected to shed light on further rules and measures to be enforced to control the spread of the virus.
Maharashtra reported nearly 50,000 new cases on Saturday – around 60 per cent of all cases reported from across the country on that day. On Friday the state reported around 48,000 cases.
State capital Mumbai reported over 9,000 cases on Saturday – the most in a day since the pandemic began in December last year. On Friday the city reported over 8,800 new cases.
Pune, one of the biggest cities in the state, has also reported alarming figures; on Friday the district administration ordered a 12-hour night curfew and the shutting down of shopping malls, religious places, and hotels and bars for a week, as well as that of public buses.
On Friday Mr Thackeray addressed the people of the state and warned of a “Catch-22 situation” – one in which another lockdown could not be ruled out, even at the potential catastrophic cost to the economy, if the surge in cases continued.
“I cannot rule out imposing a lockdown if current Covid situation prevails. People have become complacent. We are in a Catch-22 situation – should we look at economy or health?” he said.
“If this condition continues, I have told you already that in 15 days we will exhaust our infrastructure. So today I am giving a warning of a lockdown. Not announcing a lockdown yet. But if I don’t find a solution in two days after speaking to more people, then I have no option,” he said.
The continuing spike in cases has led to Maharashtra being identified as a state of “grave concern” by the centre, which has rushed teams of medical experts to the state.
Parallel to Mr Thackeray meeting his cabinet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is holding a meeting with senior government officials in New Delhi, with the situation in Maharashtra on the agenda.
The centre has already asked states to take strong action to enforce Covid-appropriate protocols, including the use of face masks and maintaining social distance. The growing laxity in implementing these measures, the centre feels, is the reason some states are seeing a spike in cases
Some scientists, though, have pointed to the proliferation of mutant strains as a reason.
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