Maharashtra reports zero Covid-19 deaths after 700 days
After a period of 700 days, Maharashtra recorded zero Covid-19 deaths on Wednesday. Last time, the state reported zero fatalities, was on April 1, 2020
Mumbai: After a period of 700 days, Maharashtra recorded zero Covid-19 deaths on Wednesday. Last time, the state reported zero fatalities, was on April 1, 2020.
With the sharp decline in Covid-19 cases, the government on Wednesday relaxed the majority of restrictions in Mumbai and suburbs and 12 other districts in the state.
A circular issued by the government has put the 14 districts in category A and these are selected based on vaccination, positivity rate, and bed occupancy. The relaxations will come into effect on Friday.
All educational institutions have been allowed to conduct offline classes, including those for nursery students. All shopping centres, cinema halls, restaurants and bars, sports complexes, gyms and spas, swimming pools, religious places, auditoriums, tourist places, and entertainment parks can operate with 100% capacity. However, those visiting these places need to be fully vaccinated. Besides, government and private offices as well as industrial units and scientific institutions can function with full capacity.
The 14 districts, which will have major relaxations, are Mumbai city and suburbs, Pune, Nagpur, Bhandara, Sindhudurg, Raigad, Wardha, Ratnagiri, Satara, Sangli, Gondia, Chandrapur, and Kolhapur. Rest 22 districts will have restrictions of 50% of the capacity of the venue or establishment.
However, some of the restrictions will remain in force across the state.
Any citizen travelling by public transport will have to be fully vaccinated. People visiting public places such as malls, theatres, religious and tourist places, restaurants, and sporting events must be fully vaccinated, the notification said. Similarly, staff of establishments that cater to the public at large, public and private establishments, industrial units, and those working for home delivery will have to be fully vaccinated.
The circular said that social, sports, entertainment, academic, cultural, religious, political and festival related events, weddings and funerals will be allowed up to 50% of the capacity of the venue. In case of gathering of more than 1,000 people, the local body needs to be informed and it will put reasonable restrictions. Similarly, in case of inter or intra state travel, only the fully vaccinated people will be allowed. For those who are unvaccinated, they will have to produce a negative RT-PCR report within 72 hours of test.
In the case of educational institutions, the notification said, “Offline classes may resume in all academic institutions subject to orders of the government administrative department concerned. Administrations of all academic institutions are encouraged to leverage the hybrid mode of teaching: online and offline. All pre-schools as well as anganwadis can now restart physically. All these institutions and establishments shall scrupulously follow Covid-19 appropriate behaviour.”
Dr Kedar Toraskar, member of Maharashtra Covid-19 task force, said the current situation is definitely better than before. “It is a welcome sign since the cases are coming down. However, we need to be cautious and adopt Covid-19 appropriate behaviour. The vaccination drive should continue.”
In view of the drop in daily Covid-19 cases, which have come below 1,000, there was increasing clamour for easing restrictions.
The 14 districts have been placed in category A after fulfilling the following criteria: the first dose of vaccination has been administered to more than 90% of the targeted population, the second dose has been given to more than 70% of the targeted population, the positivity rate is less than 10%, and the bed occupancy of oxygen-supported or ICU bed is less than 40%.
Maharashtra on Wednesday recorded 544 new Covid-19 cases. The positivity rate is 0.86% of the 62,923 tests held. The caseload has now reached 78,66,924.
The total death toll stands at 1,43,706. Pune tops the chart with 20,153 fatalities, followed by Mumbai with 16,691 and Thane with 11858.
The number of active cases has touched 5,643 with again Pune leading with 2,051, followed by 689 in Mumbai and Ahmednagar with 564.
The state also added 38 new Omicron cases: 37 from Pune city and one from Aurangabad. The total number of people infected with this variant has gone up to 4,771 of whom 4,629 have been discharged following a negative RT-PCR report.
Though 20 districts recorded a positivity rate higher than the state average of 1.24%, none was above 5%. The highest was in Dhule with 3.93%. Positivity rate is a crucial metric that shows how widespread the virus is and also provides an idea of the ability of the region to contain it. The World Health Organization recommends that this should remain below 5% for an outbreak to be considered under control.