Maharashtra health officials on Saturday warned against a surge in coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases after 10-day Ganesh Puja festivities in the state, citing example of exponential rise in cases in Kerala after Onam.
State surveillance officer Dr Pradeep Awate said, ‘We have been observing that the cases tend to increase after the festivals as there are gatherings during the festivals.
Citizens tend to flout basic rules like wearing masks or maintaining social distance!
Currently, Maharashtra ranks second in terms of active cases only behind Kerala. At present, there are 37,774 active cases in Maharashtra, of which five districts Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Satara and Ahmednagar account for 75.85% of all cases. Maharashtra sees 3,075 new Covid-19 cases, lowest in 214 days
Awate said the state government has served advisories to all districts in the state and asked these five districts to observe caution. We have asked them to ramp up the testing facilities as well as ensure that the patients are isolated and started their medication, said Awate.
Maharashtra on Saturday recorded 3,075 new Covid-19 cases, its lowest since February 9 when the state reported 2,515 cases. However, the low case count on Saturday coincided with low testing on Friday, which marked the beginning of the 10 day-long Ganesh Puja in the state. Pune tops the list of district with 12,949 patients followed by Thane with 7,823 and Satara with 5,584 active cases.
In the last 24 hours, 133,479 Covid-19 tests were performed across the state, which is one of the lowest figures in months.
Meanwhile, the state has speeded up the vaccination drive with 935,575 beneficiaries getting Covid-19 vaccine doses on Saturday. The total number of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered in the state till date stood at 67,664,505, including 18,560,050 beneficiaries who have been fully vaccinated.
Till date, 6,494,254 people in Maharashtra have tested positive for Covid-19 infections, according to the state health department data.
