Maharashtra Covid lockdown news live: State records 48,401 fresh Covid-19 cases

A day after the leader of opposition in the assembly, Devendra Fadnavis, alleged that the BMC was fudging the numbers of Covid-19 deaths in Mumbai, and window dressing its infection rate the civic body has refuted the allegations calling it baseless and inconsistent with the facts. Read more

A sum of Rs 108 crore has been allocated to provide Rs 1,500 each as one-time relief amid coronavirus-induced restrictions to 7.20 lakh autorickshaw drivers in Maharashtra, an official said on Sunday. Read more

A 44-year-old man, who was undergoing treatment for covid-19 infection at a private hospital in Talegaon, was found dead, hanging from a pipe in the storeroom at the ICU on Sunday morning. Read more

The NCP has sought waiver of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on all oxygenequipment and other drugs being procured to tackle the Covid-19 surge, claiming that such levies were "choking" the health care system. Read more

Amid complaints against certain elements of overcharging to perform the last rites of deceased Covid patients, the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has stated that the funeral or burial of such patients is to be done for free with the local civic body bearing the expenditure. In its latest public notification, the civic body said it has roped in the Panchshil women’s self-help group, which receives Rs 2,000 for each last rite of a deceased Covid patient. Two charitable organisations — Moin Mastan and Khwaja Garib — have also been involved, but these groups are said to be performing the final rites without any charge. Moreover, the AMC clarified that it has been paying Rs 2,500 to samashan jogis, members of the community that supervises crematoriums and arranges for funerals. READ FULL STORY

The Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) has been facing a shortage of remdesivir for the past two to three days. NMC officials said they require around 400 to 450 remdesivir injections for patients in critical condition who are undergoing treatment at the Bytco hospital and Zakir Hussain hospital. “Over the past two days, we have not had any stock of remdesivir and are waiting for the fresh stock,” said the officials. NMC officials said they have already placed fresh orders for 5,000 remdesivir injections with the pharmacy company and are expecting to receive the orders in a day or two. Last month, NMC had received 10,000 remdesivir injections from the Bangalore-based pharma company, for which, the civic body had already paid in advance. Both the civic hospitals — Bytco hospital and Zakir Hussain hospital — are the Covid hospitals of the NMC with a total capacity of 910 beds, including 50% of the beds for patients in critical condition. READ FULL STORY

Eight Maharashtra districts, including Nashik and Mumbai, are driving the downward trend of the Covid cases curve in the state, a senior Union ministry of health and family welfare official said on Saturday. Apart from Nashik and Mumbai, the other six districts are Jalgaon, Thane, Latur, Aurangabad, Bhandara and Nanded. MoHFW additional secretary Arti Ahuja said the Covid-19 curve has started plateauing in Maharashtra and would start declining in near future. Mumbai has registered a steep decline in positive cases in the past two weeks, she said. “This downward trend in Maharashtra is driven by the eight districts, including Nashik and Jalgaon. The ministry has undertaken district wise analysis of Covid cases of the past two weeks in the state. This analysis is important to understand the status of Covid in Maharashtra,” she added. READ FULL STORY HERE

This pandemic has seen some citizens rising above and beyond the call of duty even as their own personal situation might not be conducive to take such actions. For over a year now, 25-year-old Rocky Clement David’s school van venture has not brought in a single rupee. READ FULL STORY

Guardian minister Nitin Raut on Saturday directed officials not to relax with the decline in Covid-19 cases in the district and to start a 600-bed jumbo Covid hospital along with 25 oxygen plants and 10 cryogenic oxygen plants as soon as possible as part of the preparations for the third wave. Meanwhile, municipal commissioner Radhakrishnan B announced that the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) will start three drive-in vaccination centres in the city soon. “According to epidemiologists and experts, the district is expected to witness the third wave. Therefore, we have decided to start a 600-bed jumbo Covid hospital at the Mankapur divisional sports complex in June or July. The state government approved the plan a day ago,” Raut told TOI after a review meeting. READ FULL STORY

The weekly test positivity rate (TPR) of Covid-19 has fallen rapidly, more than it had surged, in the second wave of the pandemic in city. Also, the number of deaths crossed 8,000 in the district on Saturday, with the latest 1,000 fatalities in the last 12 days. As per data of the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC), weekly TPR was 11.61% between February 26 and March 4 and started to increase since then. It increased to 18.06% between March 5 and 11. Then, it surged to 24.15% between March 12 and 18 followed by 25.18% between March 19 and 25. The rate declined to 22.97% between March 26 and April 1. Thereafter, the city started to witness a spike in cases. Weekly TPR surged to 28.3% between April 2 and 8. There was slight increase to 28.36% between April 9 and 15. It again spiked to 31.25% between April 16 and 22. READ MORE HERE