As many as 26,440 patients were discharged after treatment, taking the tally of recovered people to 12,55,779.Maharashtra Coronavirus News Live Updates: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said the war against COVID-19 will be won by the “whole-hearted participation” of people, who have to decide whether to follow protocols to contain the spread of the disease or remain in lockdown. In a webcast, Thackeray said COVID-19 is a “foreign guest not leaving us despite our best efforts”, and added that it is spreading from cities to rural areas. He said 70 to 80 per cent COVID-19 patients are asymptomatic, and termed face mask as the self-defence or the “black belt” in the fight against the viral infection till a vaccine comes up.
With nearly 11,500 cases in a single day, Maharashtra’s coronavirus tally on Saturday increased to 1,517,434, a health official said. At least 308 deaths were also reported during the day, which took the death toll to 40,040, the official added. As many as 26,440 patients were discharged after treatment, taking the tally of recovered people to 12,55,779.
In Pimpri Chinchwad, a 21-year-old student died at the jumbo Covid facility at Nehrunagar two hours after she was discharged from a private hospital due to shortage of ICU beds. “On Saturday morning, doctors at the hospital said they had no ICU bed available and therefore she should be shifted to another hospital,” said Anita Adhikari, a relative of the patient and president of Nari Shakti Sanstha, Pimpri-Chinchwad.
At least 308 deaths were also reported during the day, which took the death toll to 40,040, an official said.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said the war against COVID-19 will be won by the "whole-hearted participation" of people, who have to decide whether to follow protocols to contain the spread of the disease or remain in lockdown. In a webcast, Thackeray said COVID-19 is a "foreign guest not leaving us despite our best efforts", and added that it is spreading from cities to rural areas. He said 70 to 80 per cent COVID-19 patients are asymptomatic, and termed face mask as the self-defence or the "black belt" in the fight against the viral infection till a vaccine comes up.
"I don't want to impose strict laws or penalty against violators of the COVID-19 protocols. The war against the pandemic will be won by people's whole-hearted participation," he said.
Mumbai has been sweltering in hot and humid conditions over the last two days, compounded by a thin layer of smog over the city on Saturday, indicating a rise in the pollution level. At 121, the Air Quality Index (AQI) was worse than Friday’s 118 (moderate), and the worst after the March 21 lockdown and phased reopening since July. The city’s AQI, according to System of Air Quality Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), had been under 50 since the lockdown began in March, with isolated days of ‘satisfactory’ AQI after partial relaxation in restrictions. SAFAR has forecast pollution levels to be in the moderate category for Sunday. Click here to read more.
Schools in the state will not reopen before Diwali, state School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad said on Sunday. "While we are exploring various options, it is clear that schools will not open before Diwali," she was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. The Centre on March 16 had announced the closure of all educational institutions, including schools, colleges and universities, to prevent the spread of the virus. It has now allowed graded reopening of schools from October 15.
The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking has presented a deficit budget of Rs 1,887 crore for financial year 2021-22. Presenting the estimated budget before BEST’s standing committee, General Manager Surendra Kumar Bagde said the undertaking is projected to spend Rs 6,827.83 crore on its bus operations and electricity supply but stands to generate revenue of only Rs 4,939 crore. BEST’s earning from its transportation wing is estimated to dip to Rs 1,407 crore against expenditure of Rs 3,039.24 crore in operating a total of 3,675 buses, of which BEST owns 2,875 buses. Another 800 have been acquired on wet-lease. “For fiscal 2021-22, our target is to increase our ridership to over 30 lakh daily for which we will need more buses. We are targeting to double our fleet to about 6,337 buses by March 2022,” said Bagde. Click here to read more.
Although Central Railway has started two special trains between Mumbai and Pune – with the timings same as that of the popular Deccan Queen and Indrayani Express – commuters who travel between the cities daily for work are not too enthusiastic about the restoration of service. They point out that the special trains do not accept seasons passes, a facility used by most regular travellers. This became apparent on Saturday as both trains, which can carry over 1,000 passengers each, had less than 200 during their trip from Pune to Mumbai. While the Railway administration said that the low occupancy was due to the weekend, commuters and passenger activists feel that the invalidation of seasons’ passes for these services is bound to turn passengers away. The requirement of booking a train berth twice a day is proving to be a tough task for many passengers. Click here to read more.
Barely two hours after a 21-year-old student was discharged from a private hospital in Pimpri-Chinchwad, she died at the jumbo Covid facility in Nehrunagar on Saturday. The patient, who was in critical condition, was discharged from the private hospital as it had no vacant ICU bed. The patient, a resident of Gharkul, was admitted to Dr D Y Patil Hospital in Pimpri about five days ago. Doctors at the hospital said the student was detected Covid positive a month ago but had subsequently recovered. However, she started feeling uneasy five days ago, and her relatives admitted her to the Dr D Y Patil Hospital. “On Saturday morning, doctors at the hospital said they had no ICU bed available and therefore she should be shifted to another hospital,” said Anita Adhikari, a relative of the patient and president of Nari Shakti Sanstha, Pimpri-Chinchwad. Click here to read more.
With nearly 11,500 cases in a single day, Maharashtra’s coronavirus tally on Saturday increased to 1,517,434, a health official said. At least 308 deaths were also reported during the day, which took the death toll to 40,040, the official added. As many as 26,440 patients were discharged after treatment, taking the tally of recovered people to 12,55,779. Follow this blog for all the latest updates.