Maharashtra Covid-19: Day after lockdown warning, massive surge in Mumbai, Pune – Hindustan Times

Maharashtra on Saturday recorded 49,447 fresh Covid-19 infections, the highest single-day spike in the state since the beginning of the pandemic. The rise comes a day after Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray warned of a lockdown if no alternative of a lockdown is found. Mumbai, where the idea of a fresh lockdown is being resisted, also saw the highest spike of 9,108 infections.

Here is what happened in the state in the last 24 hours

> Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray held an online interaction with newspaper owners, editors and distributors where he reiterated that a decision on imposing stringent measures will be taken soon, but did not confirm whether it will be a lockdown or statewide restrictions.

> Thackeray on Friday hinted at an imminent healthcare crisis situation in the state. On Saturday, the CM said the government is considering whether all industrial use oxygen supply can be diverted to medical use, as the daily demand for oxygen in Maharashtra has touched 700 metric tonnes against the state’s production capacity of over 1200 metric tonnes.

In highest single-day jump, Mumbai reports over 9,000 fresh Covid-19 cases

> Pune district, which has the highest number of active Covid-19 cases in the country, went under a mini lockdown starting from Saturday. Restaurants in the district will remain closed for seven days and will only provide home delivery services. Pune district on Saturday recorded the single-day spike of 10,873 cases, while Pune city also saw its highest of 5,778 cases.

> Mumbai airport has announced a fine of ₹1,000 on passengers found flouting the Covid-19 safety protocols. This comes in line with the DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) advisory asking all airports to penalise people violating Covid-19 rules.

> Thane city on Saturday reported 1,482 fresh infections and 2,853 new cases were reported from Nagpur city in the last 24 hours.

> With Saturday’s increase, the active Covid-19 cases in the state reached 4,01,172.

> The state is also reporting the highest number of recoveries in the country. But the gap between daily infections and daily recoveries remains huge. Against Saturday’s 49,447 new infections, there were 37,821 recoveries.

In his online interaction, as reported by PTI, the chief minister said offices were asked to follow a staggered timing after reopening so that there was less pressure on local trains and buses. But it did not happen, he said. “So it is not that we did not try. Last year we sent teams to houses. It was possible as there was a lockdown. Even contact tracing of affected persons has become difficult now,” he said.

(With agency inputs)