Be ready, 3rd wave may hit by July-aug: CM
MUMBAI: Even as the second wave is yet to recede, Maharashtra is likely to be hit by a third wave by July and August, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said on Thursday, citing the epidemiologists consulted by the government. He asked the state administration to be prepared for the third wave by ramping up the infrastructure, saying he didn’t want to see a repeat of the current scenario.
The CM called a meeting of divisional commissioners and district collectors to take stock of the Covid situation on Thursday. State health minister Rajesh Tope said, “We will have to become self-sufficient, especially in oxygen supply. The CM said he did not want to hear any reason for shortage of oxygen supply then.”
The prediction is based on advice given by the members of the state task force comprising experts from the medical field. They have made the prediction based on the study of patterns of Covid waves in various countries. According to the experts, a drop in daily cases is likely to start by May-end, but by Julyend or the first week of August, cases will start rising again which will be the third wave in the state, said a senior official, requesting anonymity.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra on Thursday recorded 66,159 daily infections pushing the count to 4,539,553. The tally of active cases reduced to 670,301 as 68,537 recoveries reported in the past 24 hours. The state saw 771 deaths, taking the toll to 67,985. Pune had 130, highest number of deaths across the state, with 94 fatalities in the city and 36 from its rural areas.
“We want the local administration to be at an oxygen surplus by July. For this, orders for setting up 125 PSA (Pressure Swing Absorption (PSA) technology) plants have been issued and in the next 10 days, their installation will begin across the state. District collectors have been directed to procure 5 to 10 LPM oxygen concentrators in proportion to 25% of the total active patients in their respective district, so that all mild and serious patients will be able to get regular oxygen supply in any case,” the health minister said.
Each tehsil should be having an oxygen generation plant, liquid oxygen storage tanks and oxygen concentrators as well, he added.
Officials said that the epidemiologists are of the view that the situation is coming under control because of the lockdown has been imposed and daily cases may start going down from next month. “In the next two months, the situation will come under control but as soon as all the restrictions are lifted it is believed that the third wave will again hit the state,” said a senior official privy to the development. “The situation has come under control to some extent owing to the strict restrictions but we have to be cautious and start planning for the third wave,” the CM said in the meeting. He also asked to ensure adequate supply of medicines for the third wave.
As part of the preparations, Tope said that tele-icu facilities will be developed for tertiary treatment of patients in all twotier cities, where there is no major government hospital or medical college. High-resolution cameras will be installed with the beds of each patient so their condition can be monitored by expert doctors in major cities. He has also directed fire audit, structural audit and oxygen supply to be conducted. District collectors have been directed to ensure hospitals are conducting these audits well in time.
As the number of daily cases is yet to decline, a steep rise is recorded in Covid-19 casualties in Maharashtra. On Wednesday, the state reported close to 1000 (985) fatalities, which is highest in a day, since the outbreak in March last year. In this month alone, 12,439 deaths have been recorded, which is also highest ever in a month so far.
If compared with the last two months, the toll in March was 2,495 casualties whereas in February, when a second wave hit the state, 1,072 deaths were reported. The death rate of this month has increased to 0.70% in this month (between April 1-27) from 0.38% last month, according to an analysis by the state health department. It was presented before the state cabinet meeting held on Wednesday.dr Subhash Salunkhe, state advisor on the Covid-19 and former director general of health services said, they are experiencing an unusual behavior of the virus which is contributing to the toll.