Lockdown in Maharashtra amid COVID-19 surge? Health Minister Rajesh Tope says THIS

As the COVID-19 cases across the state are increasing steadily, the residents of Maharashtra are anticipating the imposition of another lockdown with stricter COVID-19 curbs to prevent the spread of the virus. Amid this, Health Minister Rajesh Tope has made an important announcement.

Addressing the confusion around the likelihood of a lockdown in the state, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said that the possibility of a lockdown in the state was currently not being discussed by the government, as per the news agency PTI.

As quoted by PTI, Tope said, “Decision of lockdown is not under discussion currently. The government will make a decision about restrictions by taking into consideration the case positivity rate, hospital bed occupancy, and oxygen consumption.”

The health minister further added, “If the daily (medical) oxygen requirement crosses 700 metric tons, then the state will go into lockdown automatically.” Tope further said that currently the state had imposed restrictions on social gatherings and if the virus spreads further, stricter curbs shall be imposed.

The Maharashtra minister said, “Currently we have imposed some restrictions on social gatherings. If it brings the virus spread under control, well and good. Otherwise, we will have to impose stricter restrictions.” He added that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will also be conducting a meeting with top officials in this regard soon.

Rajesh Tope also said that finding out the exact number of Delta and Omicron cases in the state was imperative and so, a genome sequencing lab is required in each administrative lab of Maharashtra.

Though Tope dismissed the likelihood of a lockdown anytime soon, Maharashtra disaster management minister Vijay Wadettiwar had said earlier that the “stage of fresh lockdown” was nearing in the state, but the final decision is in the hands of the chief minister.

On Friday, Maharashtra reported a total of 8067 new COVID-19 cases, which was 50 percent more than the number of cases reported the day before. Mumbai has been reporting a significantly high number of COVID-19 cases, with a surge in Omicron cases as well.

(With PTI inputs)