COVID-19 cases are rising at an alarming rate across Maharashtra, and a lockdown is required in the state to improve the health infrastructure, said Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope in an exclusive conversation with India TV on Sunday.
Speaking at India TV's Swasthya Sammelan 2021, the Maharashtra health minister suggested a 15-day lockdown is required in the state to improve the health infrastructure, adding the final decision will be taken by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and the Cabinet.
On being asked about the lack of vaccines in Maharashtra, he said that the pace of vaccination in the state is the fastest in the whole country. We request the Centre to provide us vaccine doses as per the pace of our inoculation drive. We are thankful to the Central government for all the help, but more is needed to be done.
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Speaking further, the Maharashtra health minister said, "The covid protocol is being strictly enforced, with penalties being imposed against those not applying masks."
"Self-discipline is the need of the hour and at the same time vaccination is also equally important," he further said.
"We are committed to bring the second wave under control and focusing on '3T' model- 'tracking, testing, treating," Tope said.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra recorded as many as 55,411 coronavirus cases on Saturday, taking the tally of infections in the state to 32,88,540, the death toll increased to 57,638 with 309 new fatalities. As many as 53,005 patients were discharged from hospitals, taking the number of recovered patients to 27,48,153. The number of active cases stands at 5,36,682.
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