Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Wednesday said that the Government is increasing testing, tracking and tracing in the state to control the rising number of Covid-19 infections. He also said that the government is planning to increase the number of vaccination centres.
Tope, however, confirmed that there is no shortage of beds, medicines and doctors. "If the number of cases keeps rising then, we'll have to make a decision," he added.
Earlier, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan has written to the states stating that the implementation of the 'Test, Track and Treat' effectively is the only mechanism to control the spread of the deadly virus.
Bhushan in a letter addressed to the Chief Secretary of all the states and Union territories said, "...efficient implementation of "Test Track and Treat" remains the only proven strategy for control of the transmission. Each district, irrespective of whether it is seeing a surge right now, or is with a current low burden, should make a District Action Plan with clear timelines and responsibilities."
His letter further elaborated that the said action plan shall include - Mapping of cases, reviewing sub-area wise indicators, reviewing the geographical spread of the infection on a day to day basis and setting up of Emergency Operations Centre.
Maharashtra on Tuesday reported as many as 27,918 Covid-19 cases pushing the total tally to 27,73,436. However, the state witnessed a dip in daily novel coronavirus cases count as against 31,000 fresh cases recorded on 29 March.
The state had reported its highest-ever single-day spike with 40,414 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday, 28 March. However, the numbers dipped to 31,643 on Monday on account of reduced testing because of Holi holiday, as per data.
Maharashtra has been conducting more than 1.50 lakh tests every day on average for the detection of coronavirus positive cases. On Monday, the state conducted 1,36,848 tests against 1,65,591 samples that were tested on Sunday. With 139 fresh fatalities due to COVID-19 infection, the overall toll in Maharashtra reached 54,422, it said.
In Maharashtra, 23,820 patients were discharged during the day, taking the total count of recoveries to 23,53,307. The recovery rate is at 85.71%. The state is now left with 3,40,542 active cases, the department added. Case fatality rate is at 1.96%.
Union Health Ministry, earlier in the day, stated that Maharashtra is one of state accounting for more than 61 per cent of the active caseload. “Five states namely Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Punjab and Chhattisgarh cumulatively account for 79.30% of the total active cases in the country. Maharashtra leads with more than 61% of the active caseload of the country," the ministry said in a statement. India's total Active Caseload has reached 5,52,566. It now comprises 4.55 per cent of the country's total positive cases.
Click here to read the Mint ePaperMint is now on Telegram. Join Mint channel in your Telegram and stay updated with the latest business news.