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Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Monday said the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic has started, which will peak by January-end. Tope also said that the 14-day quarantine period has been halved to seven days.
The state health minister's remarks come on a day when Maharashtra recorded 33,470 new coronavirus cases and eight fatalities. He appealed to the people to strictly follow the Covid-appropriate behaviour.
While speaking to reporters, Tope said, "The third wave of the pandemic has started. It is expected to peak by January-end." He expressed concerns over many political leaders not adhering to the pandemic protocols despite the rise in cases in Maharashtra.
Tope also urged the political parties to not organise meetings and programmes. Quoting an Urdu proverb, 'Jaan hai to Jahaan hai', Tope said that everyone needed to be safe and follow the norms.
"Due to the spike in cases, the closure of schools is necessary to protect children from coronavirus. People should support the restrictions announced by the government," he added.
Tope said that he had spoken with Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya during a virtual meeting about the pandemic situation on Monday.
In this meeting, utilisation of funds under the ECRP 2 (Emergency Covid Response Plans) for preparedness and prevention of the pandemic was discussed, he said.
"Repairing the defunct oxygen plants and expediting administration of a booster dose, vaccination of the children between 15-18 years was also discussed," Tope added. He said that only four per cent of the total 17,000 oxygenated beds in Maharashtra remain occupied as of now.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra today started administering the precaution dose of Covid-19 vaccine to frontline and healthcare workers as well as co-morbid people aged 60 and above, with the state administering 91,648 doses till noon.
The state health minister said a total of 13,91,98,359 Covid-19 vaccine doses had been administered so far, which was the second highest after Uttar Pradesh.
The state on Monday added 31 fresh cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, taking the number of such patients to 1,247.
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