Maharashtra has announced a lockdown in the state in order to curb the spread of Coronavirus Pandemic. Maharashtra is the worst affected state in the country as it is reporting the highest number of cases across the country.
Amid the spike in COVID-19 cases across the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday chaired a meeting with the Chief Ministers of the high burden states over the prevailing COVID-19 situation. The meeting was held virtually. He also interacted with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
"Unfortunately, it is time for Maharashtra to impose strict restrictions. But we are also taking care that the economy does not suffer," he said during the meeting. He also expressed confidence that this time we will win this battle under any circumstances. A large number of retired doctors and nurses are also assisting the state and emphasis is being laid on strengthening telemedicine, tele ICU so that treatment can be started on patients immediately, said Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
During the meeting, the Chief Minister informed that patients with asymptomatic or mild symptoms are being kept at home in isolation and are being treated with necessary medicines. A large number of retired doctors and medical students are also assisting the state in fighting the virus.
"Maharashtra needs more oxygen and adequate supply of Remedesivir. If it is not possible to bring oxygen by air, to save time, empty tankers should be flown to the plants and the state should be supplied with oxygen by other means," he said.
"Since Remdesivir has shown some benefit in reducing hospital stay, Maharashtra needs 70,000 vials so it can help reduce the burden on hospitals. Currently, the state is only getting 27000 vials of Remdesivir," added CM Thackeray. The CM said the state is expecting the Centre to step in to ensure adequate supply to Maharashtra on all the life-saving drugs. CM Thackeray further pointed out that the vaccine supply to Maharashtra was moving at a very slow pace. Maha CM told PM Modi that even as the meeting was progressing, the state only had a stock of 5 lakh doses."Due to the double mutation of the virus in the state, there has been a rapid increase in the number of infections. The next step should be a proper study. Genome sequencing should be done so that the right policy can be decided," he said.