Focus on curbing mortality, not lockdown: Anand Mahindra tells Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray as COVID-19 cases rise

MUMBAI: Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra has said that more focus should be given on strengthening the medical infrastructure and curbing mortality instead of imposing another lockdown, a day after Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray indicated another phase of restrictive measures in wake of rising Covid-19 cases.

Mahindra, tagging the Maharashtra Chief Minister`s Office on Monday, tweeted, "The problem,@OfficeofUTji, is that the people a lockdown hurts most are the poor, migrant workers & small businesses. The original lockdowns were essentially to buy time to build up hospital/health infrastructure. Let`s focus on resurrecting that & on avoiding mortality."

The tweet from Mahindra Group Chairman came as Maharashtra stared at another lockdown with its tally crossing 2.70 million (27 lakh) on Sunday, a day after the death toll shot above 54,000.

In an ominous signal, CM Thackeray directed the administration to chalk out strategies for the smooth implementation of a possible Lockdown 2.0 in the coming days.

"Plan for lockdown... If there is no adherence to restrictions by the people, we may have to go in for it (lockdown) if people fail to follow the new normal," a grim Thackeray said on Sunday at a meeting of the Covid-19 Task Force.

Maharashtra Minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik said on Monday that the state cannot afford another lockdown and the Chief Minister had asked him to consider other options.

 "We can`t afford a lockdown. We`ve asked the CM to consider other options. Due to rising cases, he has directed the administration to prepare for a lockdown but that doesn`t mean that a lockdown is inevitable. If people follow rules, it can be avoided," Nawab Malik said.

At a meeting with senior health officials and the COVID task force, CM Uddhav Thackeray instructed them to prepare for restrictions similar to lockdown if people continue to violate COVID-related rules.

Maharashtra Chief Minister said that the COVID cases are rising because people are not following guidelines seriously and that is why strict steps like lockdown need to be considered.

Maharashtra reported 31,643 new COVID-19 cases, 20,854 recoveries and 102 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the state`s health department on Monday. The total cases reached 27,45,518 including 23,53,307 recoveries and the death toll reached 54,283. 

At present, there are 3,36,584 active coronavirus cases in the state. The case fatality rate (CFR) in Maharashtra is at 1.98 per cent while the recovery rate is 85.71 per cent. 

As many as 5,888 new COVID-19 cases were found in Mumbai while 3,561 patients were discharged today. The recovery rate in Mumbai is 85 per cent.  Nagpur reported 3177 new COVID-19 cases, 2600 recoveries and 55 deaths in the last 24 hours. The total cases in the district surged to 2,21,997 including 1,78,713 recoveries and 4,986 deaths.   

There are 38,298 active cases in Nagpur. According to the Health Ministry, India registered 68,020 new cases in the last 24 hours, out of which Maharashtra reported the highest daily new cases at 40,414, followed by Karnataka with 3,082 while Punjab reported 2,870 new cases.