'Very worried,' says health ministry on coronavirus surge in Maharashtra

Speaking on the coronavirus situation in the country, the health ministry also urged the states seeing spike in infections to pull up their socks

Coronavirus situation in Maharashtra is very concerning and the trend is worrisome, said the union health ministry on Thursday, adding that the reduced testing, tracing and inappropriate behaviour has led to the surge in infections.

"Maharashtra has shown a worrisome trend, the mutant strain has not been found incriminating in this surge in cases. It is just related to reduced testing, tracking and tracing and Covid inappropriate behaviour and large congregations," ICMR Director General Dr Balram Bhargava said at a briefing.

"We are very worried about Maharashtra. This is a serious matter. This has two lessons- don't take the virus for granted and if we have to remain Covid free, then, we need to follow Covid appropriate behaviour, said Dr V K Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog.

Sounding a word of caution for Delhi and its neighbourhood, Paul said the national capital is seeing a rise in positivity rate, so is Gurgaon, Faridabad and to an extent Gautam Buddh Nagar and Ghaziabad.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday warned that strict lockdown measures will be enforced in some parts of the state to contain the spread of Covid-19.

"Some areas of Maharashtra will witness strict lockdown measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus infection. The government is going to hold a special meeting with officials before coming out with the lockdown measures," Thackeray said.

He said the government has been requesting people to wear mask, maintain physical distance and avoid moving out unnecessarily.

Earlier in the day, complete lockdown has been announced in Nagpur city area from March 15 to March 21 in view of the rising infections.

However, essential services will be allowed during this period, Guardian Minister for Nagpur Raut said after chairing a high-level meeting with of top district officials. He said that people should not move out unnecessarily.

On Wednesday, Maharashtra recorded 13,659 new coronavirus cases, the highest one-day spike this year, which took the state's caseload to 2,252,057.

Speaking on the coronavirus situation in the country, the health ministry also urged the states seeing spike in coronavirus infections to pull up their socks and contain the spread of the virus.

"Today, Maharashtra has more than 100,000 active cases. Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Haryana are at the tipping point. We have had three meetings with these states where they have been told to pull up their socks, union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said.

He also clarified that there is no vaccine shortage in any state in the country.