Stay vigilant, CM tells officials as positivity rate rises in rural areas

MUMBAI: Maharashtra surpassed the landmark of vaccinating 500,000 beneficiaries in the state on Monday. However, the state continues to witness high Covid-19 positivity rate in Vidarbha and north Maharashtra. Chief minister (CM) Uddhav Thackeray, who held a meeting with the visiting multidisciplinary team in the state, directed authorities to increase vigilance and follow Covid-19 protocol.

While Maharashtra’s daily Covid-19 positivity rate is under 5%, the trend has not remained uniform. A three-member team under National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) director Dr Sujeet Singh was in state from Friday to Monday to take stock of the Covid-19 situation. The team visited Nagpur, Amravati,

Akola and Yavatmal and pointed out that these areas have a high positivity rate. Based on the suggestions of the central team, Thackeray on Monday directed officials at Nagpur, Amravati, Nandurbar and Bhandara, Akola and Yavatmal to make its machinery more vigilant.

The central team also visited Sion hospital and noted that Mumbai, Thane, and Palghar districts have the state’s maximum cases. However, the growth rate in these areas is limited. “With the measures taken by the state , the number of new Covid patients is decreasing every day. However, the number of patients in rural areas such as Nandurbar and Bhandara are increasing more than the urban areas,” CM said.

Meanwhile, health minister Rajesh Tope on Monday said that the state government to carry out genomic sequencing of positive patients from the areas which have high positivity rate to ascertain the strain of coronavirus.

Meanwhile on Monday, the state vaccinated 22,200 healthcare workers (HCWS) and 14,066 frontline workers (FLW) to take the total inoculated tally to 509,746. Of the total beneficiaries, 468,293 are HCWS and 41,453 are FLWS, the state health department said. The state has vaccinated 58% of the 800,000 registered HCWS.

On Monday, Maharashtra reported 2,216 Covid-19 cases, taking the tally to 2,046,287. Fifteen fatalities took the death toll to 51,325 in the state.

Mumbai reported 399 fresh cases, taking its tally to 312,280. Three deaths took the toll to 11,395. The city’s active caseload stood at 5,338.