Maha lists 7 ‘distts of concern’, Mumbai also faces Covid spike
MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government on Sunday identified seven of the state’s western districts, including Pune, as regions of “concern” and took note of an upward trend in new cases in Mumbai, as the state government grapples with concerns that a new wave of the pandemic could be in making. The last 10 days have not seen any drop in the number of cases; instead, there has been a slight jump in new infections, said state health authorities at a meet in Mumbai.
The observations about the seven “districts of concern” – Pune, Ahmednagar, Satara, Solapur, Sangli, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg – were part of a presentation made by state’s additional chief secretary Dr Pradeep Vyas during a conference called ‘Majha Doctor’ (My Doctor) that was chaired by chief minister Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai on Sunday.
Data showed that even though the weekly positivity rate stayed below 5% in all districts for the last several weeks, this week, some districts such as Pune and Ahmednagar saw the figure at 6.58% and 5.08%, respectively. Mumbai was back among top five districts having most cases.
Of the total 52,025 active cases in the state, 90.61% belong to 10 districts of which 37,897 or 72.84% are located just in five districts – Pune, Thane, Satara, Ahmednagar and Mumbai.
The state authorities have termed Pune, Ahmednagar, Satara, Solapur, Sangli, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg as ‘districts of concern’.
“The growth rate of new infections, and weekly positivity rate in these districts is too high. With the Ganesh festival beginning Friday, likely to be celebrated on a large scale in these districts, there are chances of a third wave starting... The district administrations need to take utmost care,” said Dr Vyas.
Of the 44,437 new Covid-19 infections reported in the state in the last 10 days, 30,313 (68%) are from Pune (22%), Ahmednagar (17%), Satara (11%), Solapur and Mumbai (9% each), while the remaining 32% patients are from 30 districts. After reporting less than 400 cases consistently for 38 days — from July 25 to August 31 — new infections in Mumbai are again nearing the 500-mark. There were 495 new Covid-19 infections reported in the metropolis on Sunday.