Lockdown in Maharashtra…! Read Ajit Pawar’s Warning as State Logs Highest Single-day COVID Count

Mumbai: Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Friday warned that if people don’t follow COVID-19 restrictions then the government will be forced to impose a lockdown in the state as stringent as last year’s.

“If people don’t adhere to the currently imposed COVID restrictions then we may have to impose lockdown like last year,” Ajit Pawar said. Further, Pawar insisted doctors to use Remdesivir, an injectable drug used for COVID-19 treatment, only in critical cases. “In private hospitals, COVID-19 patients’ relatives insist doctors arrange Remdesivir regardless of infection’s severity.

I request doctors to use Remdesivir only in critical cases & needn’t do anything to arrange it. We are working on that,” Maharashtra Deputy CM added. All MLAs/MLCs have been permitted to use 1 crore from their annual fund for COVID-related work in their constituency/area. “We had allowed them to use Rs 50 lakhs from their annual fund for the same last year,” Pawar added.

Maharashtra on Friday reported the highest single-day count with 63,729 fresh coronavirus cases, taking the tally past the 37-lakh mark. Further, 398 more patients succumbed to the infection, a health department official said. With 63,729 COVID new cases, the cumulative count in the state rose to 37,03,584, while the death toll went up to 59,551.

The state’s earlier highest one-day case count was 63,294, recorded on April 11, followed by 61,695 on April 15. Maharashtra’s COVID-19 recovery rate stood at 81.12 per cent, while the fatality rate was 1.61 per cent, the department said.