Amid a surge in coronavirus cases in Maharashtra, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray today said the state fought the virus together around the same time last year and was able to control the pandemic.
“This is that day in March when coronavirus entered Maharashtra (last year) and invaded the state like a demon. We fought together that is why we could control the demon,” the chief minister said.
Mumbai reported yet another highest spike in COVID-19 cases today, amid spiralling active infections for the last few weeks. The city today reported 8,648 cases in a 24-hour period, surpassing any previous high. 20 have died, government data shows. COVID-19 cases have been rising fast in Maharashtra and the state has been taking steps like enforcing safety guidelines more strictly.
Here are the highlights on what Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said:
- This is that day in March when coronavirus entered Maharashtra (last year) and invaded the state like a demon. We fought together that is why we could control the demon.
- I cannot rule out imposing a lockdown if the current COVID-19 situation prevails. People have become complacent.
- We have become lax… people need to be careful as covid cases rise.
- We had only two labs when the pandemic began. We set up more labs and are testing over 50,000 people every day in Mumbai alone. We are testing over 1.82 lakh people in Maharashtra and the target is to reach 2.5 lakh.
- RT-PCR is more reliable and is better — 70 per cent of tests must be RT-PCR and we are maintaining this percentage.
- In January-end and beginning of February, we had around 300 daily Covid cases. Now, we have nearly 8,000 cases just in Mumbai. If this continues, we will exhaust our infrastructure in 15-odd days
- I have given instructions to increase the facilities — hospital beds, ventilators… But how will we increase doctors, and other healthcare workers? Many healthcare workers and frontline workers were also infected… are we not going to give them some rest?
- Remember, getting vaccinated doesn’t mean you are safe. The vaccine is like an umbrella. It can protect from rain. But the Covid is a storm. We are yet to find a solution to reduce number of cases.