11 new cases take count in Maharashtra to 64

MUMBAI: With 11 new cases testing positive for Sars-cov-2 in Maharashtra, the state machinery has geared up to restrict the spread of the virus, which causes Covid-19. Maharashtra has the highest number of cases in India. State health minister Rajesh Tope said there was no evidence of community transmission, but the state is preparing for an increase in the number of reported cases. Outpatient departments (Opds)at eight private hospitals have been added to the list of hospitals that may be approached by those exhibiting symptoms of the disease.

A 41-year-old woman in Pune was among the 11 in the state who tested positive for Sars-cov-2 on Saturday. She has no travel history to a Covid-positive country. However Tope said, “There is no case of community transmission in Maharashtra, be it Nagpur or Pune and I’m saying this after talking to all the higher authorities. We are trying to ascertain the reason of the Pune case where the 41-year old woman, without having any travel history, got infected.” Speaking about the other 11 patients, Tope said, “Of the eight in Mumbai, six have international travel history while one had visited Gujarat and one is employed at airport. The one from Yavatmal visited Congo and is admitted in Mumbai, while the cases in Kalyan and Ulhasnagar had travelled to Dubai. In Pune, the 25-year old youth who tested positive had visited England and Ireland.”

Around 80% of the positive cases in Maharashtra are from Mumbai, Pune, Pimpri-chinchwad and Nagpur, which have been placed under partial shutdown since Saturday. School education minister Varsha Gaikwad on Saturday announced the indefinite postponement of Class 10 exams, which were scheduled to take place on Monday.

...We have set up 250 isolation wards and has kept over 7,000 beds reserved for quarantine facility as part of the state’s preparedness plan. RAJESH TOPE, health minister