Maharashtra lockdown restrictions update live: Congress minister announces end to lockdown, govt says still mulling plan
Daily Covid-19 cases seem to have stabilized at less than 16,000 in Maharashtra (15,229) for the last four days, with the test positivity rate dropping to 5.85% on Thursday. While deaths continued to be added in two instalments --daily (307) and those that are a week old (336) -- state officials said the toll still seems to be dropping in comparison to a fortnight back. The lockdown-like restrictions introduced in Maharashtra to curb the pandemic’s second wave have slowed down the economy and slashed the revenues of the state government by as much as 23% between April and May. Revenues were down by Rs 4,509 crore in this period, the latest data shows. Bombay high court bench at Aurangabad on Thursday directed the state to place before it “a ready reference chart” on June 10 to indicate how many mucormycosis patients were under treatment, the number of patients who have been cured and the number of deaths in the Marathwada region. The Pune Metropolitan Region continued to report under 2,000 new Covid-19 cases, with 1,864 people testing positive for the virus on Thursday. Stay with us for all live updates from across Maharashtra.Read Less
10cr doses of Covishield sent from Lohegaon airport till May
More than 10 crore Covishield doses have been transported from the city airport to various states and some countries since January. Around 2.95 crore doses were sent in May alone, an airport official said. With vaccine production expected to increase from June, the transport count is expected to be higher.
Help state get vaccines from abroad: Rajesh Tope to Centre
State health minister Rajesh Tope on Thursday said the Centre should help Maharashtra procure vaccines from foreign manufacturers, as there was no response to its global tender seeking five crore doses. He said the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) had relaxed some rules, but they would not help states much in procuring vaccines directly from the global manufacturers because the latter might want to deal only with the Centre. Tope said, “The state is willing to pay for the vaccines, but the Centre should facilitate them.”
In Pune district, 1st-jab coverage has reached only 37% of target
Out of the 57 lakh eligible beneficiaries in the district, only 21 lakh (37%) have been given a dose of the Covid-19 vaccines, data compiled till June 1 has shown. Civic officials in the PMR said coverage would have been wider if supply of vaccines to the region was steady. They said shortages have slowed down the vaccine drive, which had considerable momentum till early April.
Covid-19: Mumbai records less than 1,000 cases 4th day in row, Maharashtra steady below 16,000
Daily Covid-19 cases seem to have stabilized at less than 16,000 in Maharashtra (15,229) for the last four days, with the test positivity rate dropping to 5.85% on Thursday. While deaths continued to be added in two instalments -- daily (307) and those that are a week old (336) -- state officials said the toll still seems to be dropping in comparison to a fortnight back. READ MORE
1,864 new Covid-19 cases in PMR; over 3,000 patients recover
The Pune Metropolitan Region continued to report under 2,000 new Covid-19 cases, with 1,864 people testing positive for the virus on Thursday. More than 3,000 people recovered from the infection, pushing the total number of recoveries in PMR to 9,79,840. As of Thursday, the region’s progressive caseload stood at 10,19,028, as per the daily report issued by the district health office. READ MORE
Health ministry steps up surveillance of MIS-C in kids
After post-Covid mucormycosis in adults, the Centre has now stepped up efforts to estimate the burden of post-Covid multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) across the country. The director-general of health services (DGHS), in a letter on June 2, asked all states and UTs to submit weekly data on new cases of MIS-C. READ MORE
Maharashtra Congress minister announces end to lockdown, govt says still mulling plan
A sudden announcement on Thursday by a Maharashtra minister declaring an immediate end to the lockdown in the country’s most Covid-affected state and phase-wise resumption of all activities threw the administration into turmoil and prompted the government to issue a carefully worded denial that said the move was still under consideration. READ MORE