Updated: March 22, 2021 10:59 PM IST 
Pune: Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Monday said in a warning tone that people must follow COVID-19 safety protocols if the state is to avoid another lockdown. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray was of the view that lockdown may become necessary in some cities if the new cases continue to climb, Tope told reporters here, adding that he met the CM two days ago. “He told me that if the number of daily cases in the state remains in the range of 25,000 to 30,000 for the next some days, then we will have to take some stringent steps. He is of the opinion that if the numbers continue to increase, we will have to impose lockdown in some cities,” the minister said.
“I appeal people to respond to CM’s warning (about possibility of lockdown) positively and follow the COVID-19 protocols such as mask wearing, hand hygiene and physical distancing to avoid lockdown,” Tope said. He also said that the Centre has told the states that the gap between two shots of Covishield vaccine will be 45 to 60 days instead of the present 28 days. The gap between doses of Covaxin will be same as earlier, that is 28 days.
Today Maharashtra has 2.10 lakh cases of which 85%
cases are asymptomatic. Cases are rising in metro cities like Pune, Mumbai. Around 3 lakh testing per million are being conducted in Pune: Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope pic.twitter.com/xelAYkIw3g— ANI (@ANI) March 22, 2021
He has discussed the latest surge in cases with epidemiologists, the health minister said. “According to their estimate, the graph of COVID-19 cases will remain the same for the next two to three days and after that, it will decline. I think this is a peak and I hope it will go down,” said Tope.
Are other states following norms?
He also said that the state was not hiding any cases, and each case is registered with the ICMR. “The question is if this is being followed in other states or not,” he said. While the Centre wants at least 70 per cent of tests to be RT-PCR, in Maharashtra, the proportion is 73 per cent, Tope said. “We have over 550 RT-PCR labs in the state. So we have told all the civil surgeons that the RT-PCR should be used at its full capacity,” he said.
Big rallies are being held in some of the poll-bound states where no social distancing is followed, and in Gujarat, cricket matches were held with thousands in attendance, the minister pointed out.
‘No vaccines wasted’
Tope also denied that vaccines were going to waste. “It was told (by the Centre) that 58 lakh doses were given to the state and now the vaccine doses are still lying unused. There is no such situation,” he said. “Every day, 3 lakh vaccinations are happening and we are trying to increase it by roping in private hospitals and setting up sub-centres in rural areas to make it convenient for the people,” he added.
There are 1.77 crore people who are eligible for the coronavirus vaccine in the current phase and the state will need 2.20 crore doses for them, Tope said, adding that the government was striving to complete this phase in three months.
(With inputs from PTI)
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