Maha sees 5,108 new Covid cases

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

Mumbai saw 398 new cases and seven deaths on Thursday.

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 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 authority concerned 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, 1,200 metric tonnes of oxygen is being increased to 2,000 metric tonnes. 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,” said Tope.

VIJAY BATE, ANSHUMAN POYREKAR/ HT (L) The housing society, in Kandivli which was sealed after 14 cases in a month; St Joseph Boarding School (above) was sealed on Thursday.