Increase contact-tracing to curb Covid-19 cases: Maharashtra CM to BMC

MUMBAI: Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray in a review meeting with BMC officials and the state-appointed task force on Covid-19 on Saturday stressed the need for increased contact-tracing. “Instead of tracing 20 contacts, we should find 30 close contacts of patients and conduct tests on them within 48 hours (of a case being reported),” he said.
Indirectly targeting deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, who is the guardian minister of Pune district and had taken the initiative to start a Covid Care Centre in Pune, Thackeray said, “Though a vaccine is not yet available, providing better services to patients is important. But only making beds available and providing medicines is not enough, it would not be a big challenge to find lacunae in services and to try and rectify them.” It was alleged last week that a Pune-based journalist succumbed to Covid-19 due to unavailability of a cardiac ambulance in time to shift him from the Pune CCC to a private hospital.
Applauding the BMC’s efforts and preparedness, Thackeray on Saturday said that though the rising number of Covid-19 cases in Mumbai after unlocking was a matter of concern, “after checking the BMC’s preparations, I am sure we would be able to control the outbreak.”
Thackeray pointed out that though the state’s ‘Chase the virus’ campaign has helped to curb cases, 80-85% of patients now are found in high-rises and big societies instead of slum pockets. On the recent spike, he said, “Although BMC did a good job in Dharavi and Worli and was appreciated for the work carried out, instead of celebrating it, you should continue with the hard work. We were under the impression that a daily rise of 1,000-1,100 cases was the peak, but in the last two days, 1,900 and 1,700 cases have been registered. So we have to take this up as a challenge and face it with more strength.”
He also directed the BMC to involve elected representatives, political party activists, corporators and various NGOs and Ganesh mandals to implement an effective ‘My Family, My Responsibility’ campaign to fight Covid-19 in Mumbai.
Thackeray said the state can provide 5,000 to 6,000 more beds in Mumbai, but in future, “there is a need to be further prepared and to plan for more oxygen beds and ICU beds.”