PremiumWith the second wave of the pandemic grappling the state of Maharashtra, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said on Sunday that people should not let their guard down as the timing of the COVID third wave cannot be predicted.
While addressing a press conference regarding the COVID situation in the state, Thackeray said, can't say when will coronavirus third wave come. We shouldn't let our guard down.
"'Need to ensure that even if there is a third wave of COVID-19, the economy should keep moving. We will look at tightening restrictions in some districts and giving relaxations in some," he said while speaking about the preparedness for the third wave.
Even after the decline in daily coronavirus cases, current numbers in Maharashtra near peak of previous wave, he said adding, coronavirus cases are still rising in some districts of Maharashtra.
"There is a difference between the COVID-19 virus variant between last time and this time. It is more virulent now, spreading fast and taking longer for the patient to recover," he said.
Meanwhile, the COVID-triggered lockdown in the state has been extended for another fortnight. However, some curbs will be eased in some districts depending upon severity of the situation in that region.
The chief minister said, lockdown is being extended for 15 days, shall be in place till June 15 now. Depending on the case tally of districts, certain relaxations and restrictions will be enforced.
Number of recoveries is higher than cases registered in 24 hours
The state on Sunday reported 18,600 new COVID-19 cases, its lowest one-day count since mid- March this year, which took the tally to 57,31 815, the health department said.
This is the lowest single-day infection count since March 16, when the state had added 17,864 cases.
Meanwhile, as many as 402 covid-related fatalities were logged during the day that pushed the number of deaths to 94,844.
On Saturday, the state had recorded 20,295 positive cases and 443 fatalities.
In a good news, the number of recoveries is significantly higher than the number of cases registered in the last 24 hours. A total of 22,532 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, which took the recovery count of the state to 53,62,370.
Its recovery rate is now 93.55 per cent and the fatality rate is 1.65 per cent, the department said in a statement.
Mumbai city reported 1,062 cases and 22 deaths on Sunday, taking its tally to 7,04,622 and fatality count to 14,797.
(With inputs from agencies)
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