Surge in COVID-19 cases: Maharashtra CM Uddhav warns of lockdown, decision after two days

On a day Maharashtra reported 47,827 new Covid-19 cases, the highest since the pandemic began last year, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday stopped short of announcing a lockdown, but warned that the decision may have to be taken after two days following consultations with experts and political leaders.

The total caseload of the state now stands at 29.04 lakh, of which 3.89 lakh are active cases. Active cases have nearly tripled from 1.3 lakh on March 15.

With 202 patients dying on Friday, the state's case fatality ratio has reached 1.91 per cent.

Mumbai also recorded its highest number of cases since the pandemic began, reporting 8,884 cases on Friday, taking the city's caseload to 4.32 lakh. Among these, 57,687 are active cases.

Maha CM Uddhav warns of lockdown:

In a public address streamed live on social media, Thackeray warned that if the number of cases continued to rise at the current rate, the state would fall short of medical personnel even if health infrastructure could be expanded.

He said that restrictions have to be imposed to prevent crowding. He attacked political opponents for threatening protests against lockdown, saying they should be helping the administration tackle the crisis instead.

If situation gets worse:

"Today, I am warning about complete lockdown but not announcing it. I will speak to experts and political leaders in the next two days. If there is no other option to a lockdown, we will have to accept it," Thackeray said.

He added that the question before the government was how to break the chain of infection.

While talking about the measures taken in the US and UK, Thackeray also said that France, Belgium, Ireland and others have gone for lockdown to break the chain.

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