Maharashtra lockdown news live: CM for strict curbs, free hand to local administration in Nagpur
Active cases of Covid-19 in Maharashtra crossed the six lakh mark on Wednesday, which saw the stringent restrictions imposed by the government come into effect.The state reported a 100% increase in active cases in just 18 days. On March 27, the state had just over three lakh active cases, which doubled to 6.12 lakh on Wednesday. The state had over 50% of the active cases in the country. Pune district will once again have different night curfew timings compared to the rest of Maharashtra till May 1. On Wednesday, the Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad municipal corporations and the district collector’s office released identical orders, retaining the 6pm-7am night curfew timing on weekdays from Monday to Friday, besides the weekend lockdown from 6pm on Friday to 7am on Monday, till May 1. Stay with TOI for all the latest updates:
‘Even 15 mins of exposure enough to spread disease’
Kingsway Covid incharge Dr Harashvardhan Bora said infectivity is such that even 15 minutes of exposure is enough to spread the disease within family or close contacts. GMCH medical superintendent Dr Avinash Gawande said they have observed that at least 25 persons, which could be neighbours, co-workers, employees or family members, are getting infected by each patients. READ MORE HERE
CM for strict curbs, free hand to local administration in Nagpur
With the Covid-19 situation getting worse in Nagpur district, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday directed the district administration and police officials to strictly implement the restrictions from Wednesday night till May 1. Thackeray also gave a free hand to the local administration to impose further restrictions if it felt the situation is going out of hand, or people are violating protocol or lockdown restrictions. READ MORE HERE
Pune: People picking pvt hosps over Covid care centres
Nearly 50% beds at Covid care centres across Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad municipal limits have remained vacant despite a rapid rise in Covid-19 cases as a majority of the patients are opting for private hospitals. Rising hospitalisation demand is also leading to mushrooming of unauthorised private Covid care facilities, which charge heavily for providing beds and healthcare. PMC officials said of the 1,200 beds, 600 are available in four Covid care centres at Yerawada, Hadapsar, Kharadi and Satara Road. These centres are being operated by the civic body. These Covid care centres are treated as institutional isolation centres. Patients who are asymptomatic or have very mild symptoms are kept in these centres.
Pune: High demand, low supply spur veggie price rise
Vegetable prices shot up by 20-30% in the Market Yard on Wednesday due to less supplies and panic buying amid statewide restrictions making a comeback against the backdrop of rising Covid-19 caseload. “Supplies to the market were lower on Wednesday due to Gudi Padwa the previous day. Farmers usually do not go to fields for harvests on festive days. Also, due to the stringent curbs being imposed in Maharashtra, customers bought twice the amount of vegetables they usually buy from Gultekdi. Retailers have bought vegetables for several days in advance. Even though essential supplies like vegetables are not included under the new curbs, people are buying vegetables for 4-5 days in advance from retailers so that they do not experience last year’s situation,” an official of the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) said. READ FULL STORY
Additional 250 Covid beds in Jaslok Hospital will come online on the BMC dashboard (including 40 ICU beds) by Saturday morning. In addition to this, 30 more ICU beds being added in SevenHills Hospital today. 1,500 extra beds will be added to the NESCO Jumbo centre within 7 days.
BMC commissioner
Jaslok Hospital converted into a dedicated Covid hospital. It will no longer admit non-Covid patients: Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai
Pune: Over 40 vaccination centres set up to give second dose of Covaxin
More than 40 vaccination centres have been set up across Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad and Pune rural to ensure beneficiaries due for a second dose of Covaxin get the shot. Thirty of these sites are in Pune city — 16 of them are PMC-run. In Pimpri Chinchwad, officials said nine sites have been set up to administer the vaccine. Pune rural has been allowed four centres. READ MORE HERE
India reports 2,00,739 new Covid-19 cases, 93,528 discharges and 1,038 deaths in the last 24 hours: Union health ministry
ANI visuals from Pune
#Maharashtra government's 15-day statewide restrictions, in the wake of the Covid-19 situation, came into effect fr… https://t.co/OonTcknSMa
— TOI Pune (@TOIPune) 1618457969000Maharashtra: 284 active cases of Covid-19 currently in prisons across the state
284 active cases of Covid-19 currently in prisons across the state, including 198 inmates and 86 members of jail staff. 15 deaths reported, comprising 7 prisoners and 8 jail staff. 1326 prisoners and 3112 jail staff vaccinated so far.
Pune: New rules force people to leave, large crowd gathers at bus stands
Kuldip More (32) was at the Swargate bus stand on Wednesday morning trying to get back to his family in Kolhapur. “My parents heard CM Uddhav Thackeray’s address last evening and told me to come back immediately. I called my office in the morning and they told me to take a weeklong break after which they will contact me. I am shocked as my manager did not tell me this earlier,” said More. It was a busy Wednesday morning at the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation-run (MSRTC) bus stand with many passengers turning up desperate to leave the city anyhow they could. READ FULL STORY HERE
Remdesivir not only option against Covid, can save lives without it: Doctors
Remdesivir is not the lone life-saving drug against Covid-19. Instead, it has been a careful mix of oxygen therapy, vitamin supplements, steroids and blood thinners that has been helping patients recover faster, medical experts have said. In fact, the state task force, in a meeting on April 12, made it clear that it is absolutely possible to save patients without even using remdesivir. READ MORE HERE
6pm-7am curfew, weekend lockdown to continue in Pune
The district will once again have different night curfew timings compared to the rest of Maharashtra till May 1. On Wednesday, the Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad municipal corporations and the district collector’s office released identical orders, retaining the 6pm-7am night curfew timing on weekdays from Monday to Friday, besides the weekend lockdown from 6pm on Friday to 7am on Monday, till May 1. READ MORE HERE
The BMC increased the total number of Covid-19 beds to 20,022, including 6,000-plus in the private sector. People continued to say it was not easy to get a bed. “People who are breathless have to at times wait for six to seven hours for an ICU bed,” a doctor with a BMC hospital said.
After a dip in the daily case count for two days, the city saw cases rise to 9,931 on Wednesday. Fatalities rose to 54, including 37 deaths of patients above 60 years of age and 15 between 40 and 60 years.
The state showed a slight dip in daily detections, adding 58,952 cases. Fatalities numbered 278. The total caseload reached 35.7 lakh and the death toll touched 58,804.
The state reported a 100% increase in active cases in just 18 days. On March 27, the state had just over three lakh active cases, which doubled to 6.12 lakh on Wednesday. The state had over 50% of the active cases in the country.
Active cases of Covid-19 in the state crossed the six lakh mark on Wednesday, which saw the stringent restrictions imposed by the government come into effect.