COVID: Maharashtra Govt may extend restrictions till May 31 even as daily cases decline

Even as COVID-19 cases have started to decline in many districts of Maharashtra, the government is likely to extend the lockdown-like restrictions beyond May 15. To break the chain of coronavirus transmission, the Uddhav Thackeray-led government had imposed statewide restrictions from April 22 to May 1. Later, it was extended till May 15 as the second wave of COVID-19 led to a surge in infections and fatalities.

The government has prohibited inter-city and inter-district travel during the period and announced the closure of non-essential services across the state. However, the existing curbs may continue till May 31 as the daily infections are still hovering between 50,000 and 60,000.

Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Tuesday said if the restrictions are lifted, the situation may go out of hand. He added that the government is preparing to tackle the third wave and is planning to ramp up bed capacity, availability of Remdesivir injections, and self-sufficiency in oxygen through Mission Oxygen. The government is also increasing the pace of COVID-19 vaccination, he added. The Minister said that the government will review the situation and decide on whether to extend the lockdown-like measures or not. The final decision on the matter is likely to be taken at the cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

COVId-19 cases dip in Maharashtra

On Monday, May 10, Maharashtra recorded 37,236 novel coronavirus cases taking the State's COVID-19 tally to 51,38,973. The state had reported 39,544 coronavirus cases on March 31. Maharashtra had logged 48,401 new infections on May 9, which dipped further on May 10 to 37,236 cases. With 549 deaths being reported in the past 24 hours, the state’s COVID-19 death toll now stands at 76,398.

At present, there are 5,90,818 active cases in the State. With 61,607 COVID-19 patients discharged in the day, the number recovered soared to 44,69,425. Maharashtra’s COVID-19 recovery rate stood at 86.97% on May 10. In a heartening development, Mumbai too recorded only 1794 new cases. The city reported 1,794 coronavirus cases and 74 deaths in the past 24 hours, which is also the lowest since March.