Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray has directed the administration to draw up a roadmap for a second lockdown, a move that drew opposition from his own alliance partner, NCP, not to mention angry voices in BJP who warned of public protests. A decision may be likely on April 2 after a review. The instructions coincided with the state reporting an all-time high of over 40,000 cases. A day later on Monday, the tally tapered to 31,643. In Mumbai, cases added up to over 12,000 in the last 48 hours.
The ‘lockdown’ plan does not have enough takers among politicians, who worry about a public backlash. Experts tracking the pandemic’s progress though are in favor of rolling back relaxations in movement as well as trade and commerce.
“Most cabinet members are against a lockdown. In the first lockdown people suffered, a large number lost their jobs and the economy collapsed,” said NCP spokesperson and state minister Nawab Malik.
Cases in Maharashtra have risen exponentially in the last fortnight, with 3.9 lakh people testing positive. Between March 1 and March 28, over 5.4 lakh cases were detected, almost as much as in September 2020, the worst month in terms of Covid19 tallies. At present, the weekly positivity rate in Maharashtra is the highest in the country at 22.78%; the state conducts 1.5 lakh tests daily.
Explaining the current Covid-19 situation and facilities available to tackle it, Pradeep Vyas, principal secretary, public health, said infections are shooting up, coursing rapidly through the population. Key facilities, especially beds, ventilators, and oxygen supply, would soon turn scarce.
“Lockdown is the last resort, but we have to consider it because the healthcare infrastructure is crumbling. There are no beds available in the private sector and public-sector beds too are getting filled fast,” said task force member Dr. Shashank Joshi who was part of Sunday’s meeting.
