Headed towards lockdown, essential to break the chain: Maha Health Minister

New Delhi, Apr 09: Maharashtra is heading towards a lockdown, health minister, Rajesh Tope said.
Speaking to NDTV, he said that the state would head towards a lockdown if the COVID-19 situation does not improve. We are not in favour of a lockdown, but it would be essential to break the chain if things do not improve, he also said.

Mumbai, Apr 09: The state health department has said that the number of active coronavirus cases in Maharashtra is likely to cross the 1.1 million-mark by April 30 in the absence of adequate measures to control the spread of the virus. This is being considered as the second wave in the state, which began around February 11.

State health department principal secretary Pradeep Vyas on Wednesday said, "We are recording more cases than we predicted. The state has already recorded 50 per cent more active cases during this wave, in comparison to the previous wave in September 2020. If cases increase in this proportion, by April 17 we will have around 568,000 active cases."

On Thursday, Maharashtra reported 56,286 new COVID-19 cases, and 376 deaths, taking the tally to 3,229,547 and toll to 57,028. The active cases in the state have now touched 521,317. The cumulative case fatality rate in the state is now 1.76 per cent. On Wednesday, a total of 236,815 tests were held, with a positivity rate of 23 per cent for the day.