Maharashtra To Ease Lockdown Restrictions? Health Minister Hints Govt Might Reduce Curbs After June 1

As the Covid-19 situation in Maharashtra undergoes gradual improvement, state health minister Rajesh Tope on Saturday hinted that the government could consider easing the restrictions in a phased manner.

Mumbai: As the Covid-19 situation in Maharashtra undergoes gradual improvement, state health minister Rajesh Tope on Saturday hinted that the government could consider easing the restrictions imposed in a phased manner after June 1.

This comes as the positivity rate in Maharashtra reached 12 percent and authorities believe that they have adequate supplies and medicines.

“The government will assess the situation in the last week of May. If the positivity rate falls below 10percent and the number of active cases comes down, the state may consider easing some restrictions,” The Times of India quoted Rajesh Tope as saying.

The state health minister added that the government would take a cautious approach considering the possibility of third wave and CM Uddhav Thackeray would announce the final decision with regard to easing restrictions.

The state authorities may slowly consider easing restrictions if the number of active cases goes down and 50 percent of hospital beds are vacant, he said.

On April 5, the Maharashtra government imposed lockdown-like curbs followed by stricter restrictions announced on April 15.

Maharashtra once again battled the worst Covid-19 situation with a worrying spike ahead of the second wave that hit the country. Finally, the state has managed to have its positivity rate below 15 percent as the state’s positivity rate on Saturday was reported to be 12 percent.

Maharashtra's Covid death toll crossed the 87,000-mark on Saturday even as new infections dropped and remained below the 30,000 level, health officials said. Compared to the peak of 1,263 deaths reported on Friday, the state's fatalities dropped to 682 on Saturday, taking its overall death toll to 87,300, the worst in the country.

The number of fresh cases remained below the 30,000-mark at 26,133, taking the state's Covid tally to 55,53,225 till now.

In its briefing on Saturday, the union government said that eight states, including Maharashtra, had more than one lakh Covid cases in the country. Karnataka topped the list with 5.14 lakh cases, followed by Maharashtra with 3.67 lakh cases and Kerala with 3.06 lakh cases.

Maximum of the 4,83,225 active cases have been reported from Karnataka followed by Maharashtra (3,54,830), Kerala (2,89,657), Tamil Nadu (2,84,278), Andhra Pradesh (2,10,683), West Bengal (1,31,688) and Rajasthan (1,22,330).

(With Agency Inputs)