Maharashtra may face shortage of facilities in coming days: CM Uddhav Thackeray on rising COVID cases

File Photo

Mumbai: Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday (April 2) warned that if the number of COVID-19 cases kept increasing the way they have in the last few days and weeks, the state might run out of facilities to deal with the virus.

The CM emphasized how the state has ramped up the healthcare infrastructure and testing facilities and has stayed ahead in the fight against coronavirus so far. But despite all of the preparations, there may be a shortage of facilities in the coming days.

“If the number of patients continue to grow this way, then there will be a shortage of facilities in the coming days,” said Thackeray.

“We will increase the facilities but where will we find sufficient number of doctors and nurses?” he added.

Admitting that the situation in Maharashtra is worrying, he said that his government is not keeping anything from the public.

“We are not hiding anything. Today the situation in Maharashtra may be looking worrying but we are not hiding anything,” said the CM.

“I would not talk about other states. I only say that I have the responsibility of the people of Maharashtra,” he added.

Thackeray listed the several measures the state has taken to tackle the virus, including the vaccination drive.

“When pandemic started, we had only two labs for testing. Now there are 500 facilities. We have a capacity of testing 1.82 lakh people and soon we will achieve 2.50 lakh testing capacity. 70% of our tests are done using RT-PCR. We have also increased the number of beds. At present we have 3.85 lakh beds,” said Thackeray.

“Maharashtra has become the number one state in vaccination. Three lakh vaccinations are happening every day. So far 65 lakh people have been vaccinated in the state,” he added.

He said that the Centre should consider sending more vaccine doses to meet the demand in the state.

About whether the state will undergo a lockdown, the CM said that it has not been decided yet.

He did cite examples of other countries that have been forced to impose partial or complete lockdown.

“Look what happened abroad. The situation in France is critical, there is a third lockdown. There is work from home in Hungary. The same thing happened in Denmark. There is lockdown in Ireland, tight restrictions in Kenya and so on,” Thackeray said.

He said that the decision on lockdown may be taken tomorrow.