MUMBAI: Even as the state disaster management authority (SDMA) on Friday reviewed the preparedness for the third wave and the existing Covid-19-induced restrictions, the total Covid-19 death toll of the state rose by 1,177 deaths in the last two days.
Maharashtra added 200 Covid deaths on Friday and 121 deaths were reported on Thursday; however, 596 old deaths were added to the total toll on Friday and 318 were added on Thursday. With this, the state’s total death toll stood at 1,25,034. The state added 8,992 new cases on Friday, taking its caseload to 61.4 lakh .Mumbai added 596 cases and 13 deaths, taking its total tally to 7.2 lakh and deaths to 15,599.
In the SDMA meeting on Friday, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said that with a warning of a third wave, there should be no shortage of essential medicines and other supplies. Officials said that there is pressure on the government to ease restrictions. Dr Shashank Joshi, a member of the task force, said the ‘thick tail’ is a worrying factor for states like Maharashtra and Kerala. “It is the reason why it may be premature to think about easing restrictions. We must implement stringent containment measures and focus on aggressive genome sampling,” he said.
The official said that whether the state should do away with the requirement of an RT-PCR negative report and quarantine rules for fully vaccinated visitors is also being considered, and the task force has been asked to give its opinion on the issue. A meeting with the task force will be held once again next week for firming up any relaxations to be given. The state is expecting to receive results of over 1,000 samples that have been sent for genome sequencing. “Our chief worry is still Delta and not Delta-plus as of now,” said a state official. Dr Joshi said that unlike the north, where the second wave appears to have ended, the virus is in active transmission in Maharashtra and Kerala.
