Mumbai Lockdown News Today: Even as the Maharashtra government has announced 5-level unlock process, the state Task Force suggests that the full lockdown in Mumbai should not be lifted until 70 per cent of locals are vaccinated. Saying that it is a matter of concern as people are coming out in Mumbai and violating covid protocol, the task force member added if the trend continues, there is a reason for worry for the state and the state capital.
Earlier, the task force had said the Delta-plus variant could stoke the third wave in Maharashtra if unlocking is happening soon and it also could spread at double the rate.
Speaking to India Today, a member of the Covid-19 task force in the state Dr Shashank Joshi said the total number of cases in the third wave is expected to be double of what was registered in the second wave and the active cases could reach 8 lakhs.
Talking about ways to eliminate the impact of the possible third wave, he said that people will have to follow three yardsticks. He said that the positivity rate should be below 5 per cent for two weeks. He also added that it will take around 4-5 weeks for 70 percent of the people to get fully vaccinated. Till that time, there should be zero tolerance to violation of covid protocol and wearing of mask should be made compulsory.
On the other hand, a state department official said that reintroducing lockdowns in a graded manner might be a possibility in the light of the possible third wave.
Speaking to Times of India, Aseem Gupta, principal secretary, state relief and rehabilitation department if the COVID-19 caseload rises during the third wave, the possibility of reintroducing lockdown cannot be denied.
Shashank Joshi also talked about the Mumbai local train and said the state should not think of starting local train services because Maharashtra is not out of danger yet. He also added that the state government should not repeat the mistake it made in the first and second waves.
The statement from the COVID Task Force member comes at a time when Mumbai recorded 666 new coronavirus cases and 20 fresh fatalities on Thursday, while 741 more patients recovered from the infection. According to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) updated data, with the new cases, the COVID-19 tally jumped to 7,19,179, while the death toll increased to 15,247.
Mumbai reported a dip in the daily COVID-19 cases, while the number of deaths rose as compared to Wednesday, when the city had witnessed 830 new infections and 11 fatalities.
At present, Mumbai has 14,807 active cases after 741 patients were discharged from hospitals, taking the number of recovered people to 6,86,866. The BMC said with 29,309 COVID-19 tests conducted in the city in the last 24 hours, the cumulative number has increased to 67,23,219.