‘There is a shortage of oxygen and people are dying’.
Mumbai: In yet another grim milestone, India recorded 3.4 lakh new Covid-19 cases, and 2,600 deaths in a day. Meanwhile, active cases crossed the 24-lakh mark. India is now the second-worst Covid-19 affected country in the world with overall 1,56,16,130 cases and 1,82,553 fatalities.
Maharashtra, with 41,61,676 cases, remains the worst-affected state of the country, followed by Kerala (13, 50,502), Karnataka (12,74,959), Tamil Nadu (10, 51,487), Andhra Pradesh (1009228), Uttar Pradesh (10,13,370), Delhi (9,80,679), West Bengal (7,13,780), Chhattisgarh (6,22,965) and Rajasthan (4,83,273).
The surge has led to a sharp rise in active cases to 6,91,851 and going by the current transmission rate, the state health department has predicted that by 2 May, additional 411,140 cases could be added to the tally, which will be a record 60% growth in 12 days.
Ten districts have the highest number of active cases as they comprise 491,076 cases, which amounts to 72.58% of the total cases. Pune is at the top in terms of the highest number of active cases at 1,25,096. Mumbai comes at second position with 82,761 cases, Thane 80,440 cases, Nagpur 78,484 cases and Nashik 44,279.
Currently, the average positivity rate of cases in the state is 25.55% and there are 14 districts where the positivity rate is much higher than the average of the state. The highest is in Osmanabad (39.25%), followed by Parbhani, Hingoli, Nagpur and Gadchiroli at 36.78%, 36.70%, 35.02%, 34.30%, respectively.
After conducting several meetings, the government had imposed night curfew, but later has put more strict curbs across the state. A lockdown-like situation can be seen in the state where only essential services are functioning and again the state has become deserted. These restrictions have affected the economy and this is the reason why the business sector is opposing a complete lockdown in the state.
According to state health minister Rajesh Tope, everything except public transport and essential commodities will be shut down. “Though we are not calling it lockdown, it is a ‘break-the-chain’ initiative amid the rising Covid-19 cases in the state. We have been utilising 80-90% of our facilities in the health infrastructure, including beds, oxygen, manpower and it cannot bear more load. All the Cabinet ministers insisted on a complete lockdown. Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray will announce it soon,” he said.
State urban development minister Eknath Shinde called the surge worrisome and grave. “The Covid-19 cases are increasing and this is a grave situation. There is a shortage of oxygen and people are dying,” said Shinde. He said that lockdown was inevitable in the current situation.
At least 24 Covid-19 patients on life support died after a leak in a medical oxygen tank disrupted the supply of the gas at Dr Zakir Hussain Hospital in Nashik on Wednesday. Attributing the leak to a valve malfunction, a high-level inquiry had been ordered to ascertain if negligence had caused the tragedy.
Followed by Nashik hospital tragedy, a fire tragedy took place at the Vijay Vallabh Hospital in Virar which killed 13 Covid-19 patients on Friday. A fire broke out in the intensive care unit on the second floor of the four-storeyed hospital in the early hours of Friday, in which five women and eight men died. This has again raised questions over the healthcare system.
With the number of active cases set to spike hugely in the other 32 districts also, the availability of infrastructure would be severely inadequate around the state.
Barring Mumbai, Palghar, Ratnagiri, Kolhapur, Solapur, Jalgaon and Amravati, the remaining 29 districts will not have sufficient isolation beds for active cases.
The second Covid-19 wave has brought to the surface the pathetic state of Maharashtra’s public health system. Lack of beds of all types is overwhelming hospitals with many districts reporting 190-200% occupancy. Hingoli in Marathwada is one of the grim examples, where 121 patients were vying for 55 ICU beds early this week and 38 patients for 30 ventilators. After Hingoli where the requirement for ventilators touched 126% against availability, it was 102% and 103% for Solapur and Aurangabad respectively.
On the present case-load, only 14 districts have spare isolation beds, but in the remaining 22 districts, the demand ranges between 60% and 180% of the existing capacity.
Based on the death rate registered till date, districts of Buldhana, Akola, Nandurbar, Jalgaon and Nanded shall be on “watch” over the next few days, as per the government estimates.
Amidst shortage of vaccines state government promises to raise vaccination scale.
On 19 April, the Union government had announced that vaccinations will open for everyone above the age of 18. Earlier, it was for only senior citizens and later people above the age of 45 were eligible to take vaccines.