State to hold Majha Doc meet on Covid-19

In a bid to sensitise doctors across the state about the new Covid-19 variants and a possible third wave, the state has organized a virtual ‘Majha Doctor’ meet that will be addressed by CM Uddhav Thackeray and the task force on September 5.

Apart from family doctors, medical experts and citizens can attend the conference online. The first conference had taken place in May. According to the Chief Minister’s Office, various issues relating to the third wave and precautions to be taken will be discussed. Questions for this conference can be sent to www.facebook.com/onemdhealth.

This comes after the Niti Aayog has warned that in September India can witness four to five lakh coronavirus infections daily and there will be 23 per cent hospitalisations. A member of Niti Aayog, V K Paul, who is also the head of the Task Force on Covid-19, has urged the Centre to prepare two lakh ICU beds.

As far as the state is concerned, the public health department has predicted that 60 lakh cases will be reported in the third wave. Mumbai and Pune will contribute to the majority of cases.

The timing of the proposed conference is crucial, especially when the new C12 variant has been detected. According to the state Task Force member Dr Shashank Joshi, it may be faster in mutation and it has gained the farthest distance from Wuhan 1.0 strain (denoted by 0 distance). This means C12 is the most mutant of all mutant variants found till date.