Maharashtra lockdown decision to be taken after April 14 as state logs highest single-day spike

Maharashtra will decide on imposing a lockdown after April 14, state Health Minister Rajesh Tope said on Sunday.

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Mumbai: A decision regarding imposing a lockdown in Maharashtra will be taken after April 14, state Health Minister Rajesh Tope said on Sunday.

"Duration of the lockdown and how to handle its economic fallout was discussed during today's meeting. The task force is of the view that the prevailing coronavirus situation in the state is such that a lockdown is required," the minister said.

He was speaking to reporters after a virtual meeting of the COVID-19 task force chaired by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to discuss measures, including imposition of a lockdown in the state, to break the virus chain.

A tweet from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said, "In a meeting with the State Task Force, the chief minister discussed the availability of oxygen & beds, use of Remdesivir, treatment protocols, increase in capacity of facilities, imposition of restrictions & fines for violating COVID protocols."

Thackeray had on Saturday indicated the imposition of a strict lockdown in the state given the alarming rise in COVID-19 cases. He had held an all-party meeting held virtually to discuss the COVID-19 situation in the state.

Last Sunday, the state government had announced a slew of restrictions, including a weekend lockdown, night curfew and prohibitory orders for the day time. These restrictions will continue till April 30.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra on Sunday recorded its highest single-day rise since the outbreak. As many as 63,294 new coronavirus cases were registered which pushed the caseload to 34,07,245, the health department said.

The death of 349 patients due to the infection took the state's toll to 57,987. A record 2,63,137 tests were conducted across the state during the day, which took the overall test count to 2,21,14,372.