No fresh lockdown in state, says Tope

Despite rise in the coronavirus cases in Maharashtra, Public Health Minister Rajesh Tope, on Friday, said the imposition of a fresh lockdown was not under the government’s consideration. Tope’s announcement came days after the Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has directed the Nagpur and Amravati division commissioners to be more vigilant and step-up measures to control the spread of COVID-19. Tope said that the government has taken a decision to increase the number of tests across the state. On Friday, 3,670 new cases with 36 deaths were reported, while 2422 were discharged. The fatality rate in Maharashtra has still been at a higher level at 2.5%. The state's recovery rate stands at 95.91% with 31474 active cases and progressive deaths of 51,451. Parbhani, Jalna, Beed and Latur districts and Amravati division comprising Akola, Amravati,

Buldhana, Yavatmal and Washim have reported a rising number of cases daily. The number of cases is increasing despite the vaccination drive launched last month. Maharashtra has around 800,000 HCWs and 580,000 FLWs registered on CoWIN, the centralised app that is managing vaccinations.