State sees 78% rise in Covid-19 cases

There has been a 78 per cent rise in the number of corona cases reported this month compared to June. According to the data, 1,07,253 cases have been reported in June compared to 1,90,253 which were reported between July 1 and July 24. State officials attributed this rise to the lack of healthcare infrastructure, increase in active cases in two-tier cities and towns of Maharashtra. They have also attributed this surge to increased numbers of testing across districts and increased movement of people.

For the past six days, Maharashtra has witnessed more than 8,000 single day cases, followed by 9,000 cases for three times and 10,000 cases for once. However, all these numbers are coming from the remaining eight municipal corporations outside Mumbai in MMR and in districts such as Nashik, Ahmednagar, Kolhapur and Solapur. “These districts have not only witnessed an increase in cases but also surge in active cases by 60 per cent

compared to last month. Current conditions led the state government to take a look at improving healthcare infrastructure considering cases might increase in future,” said a senior official.

Dr Archana Patil, director, Directorate of Health Services, said they are working only on enhancing healthcare facilities and cannot say that the peak has started. “Currently, we are monitoring the growth rate of fresh infections and based on that, making projections for the coming weeks. I cannot say that the peak has started. Our priority is to augment healthcare facilities because more cases need more medical facilities. We will have to match the health infrastructure with the rise in fresh cases in each and every district of the state,” Dr Patil said.

Health officials said they were carrying out rapid antigen tests that gave faster results so as to stop the spread of virus in the period between tests and results of suspected patients. The “intermingling” of people of semi-urban areas and rural areas was a “possible explanation” for the wave of infections in these areas. Moreover, testing has increased to 40,000 per day which is also the main reason for the steep rise in numbers,” Dr Pradip Awate, state surveillance officer.

State officials said they do not want the outbreak to go out of hand in rural and semi-urban areas and they have seen an increase in these areas, but the increase is not exponential. All districts are now starting to use the rapid antigen kits for faster results. “We have ramped up testing, tracing and treatment. The availability of beds will not be an issue as cases are not growing exponentially,” he said.