Maharashtra sees 5,108 new cases with 159 deaths

Maharashtra on Thursday breached the 5,000-mark for the second day in a row as it recorded 5,108 new Covid-19 cases and 159 deaths

Maharashtra on Thursday breached the 5,000-mark for the second day in a row as it recorded 5,108 new Covid-19 cases and 159 deaths.

A BMC health worker checks temperatures before Covid-19 test of commuters arriving from outstation trains at Dadar station. Times) (Satish Bate/HT PHOTO)

Mumbai’s saw 398 new cases with seven deaths.

The state’s Covid-19 tally has now reached 6,442,788, while the toll stands at 136,730. There were 2,07,265 tests done on Sunday while the number of recoveries clocked 4,736. There are currently 50,393 active patients across the state, of which Pune tops with 13,085 patients followed by Thane with 7,092 active patients and Satara with 5,381.

The state government is likely to request the state election commission to postpone the forthcoming municipal corporation and district council election to prevent escalation in the Covid cases. The issue was also discussed at length at the state’s cabinet meeting.

State health minister Rajesh Tope said “The third wave is imminent; hence it would be better if elections can be postponed in Maharashtra. Chief minister (Uddhav Thackeray), deputy chief minister (Ajit Pawar) and members of the state task force will explain to the concerned authority why it is necessary to postpone polls in the state.”

“We want the state election commission not to make any announcement before consulting the state government as we all are worried about the anticipated third wave,” said a senior minister on conditions of anonymity.

Tope even held a telephonic meeting with the Kerala health minister after the state recorded 31,455 cases on Wednesday. “Kerala’s health minister told me that there was a surge in the number of cases after the Onam festival. They have now increased the rate of testing,” said Tope.

“We will be appointing 1,200 doctors by September 5. In addition, the 1,200 metric tons of oxygen is being increased to 2,000 metric tons. We have purchased 1,000 ambulances and have taken ₹5,000 crore loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the construction of hospitals,” said Tope. “We had 6.5 lakh active patients during the second wave and this time, we anticipate 13 lakh active patients. We have beefed up our infrastructure to accommodate them,” said Tope.

He added that the Central government has promised to give 18 million doses to Maharashtra, which is an increase of five million from the previous month.