Kirit Somaiya slams Maharashtra govt for creating confusion over COVID-19 situation

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kirit Somaiya on Sunday, September 6 came down heavily on the Maharashtra government led by chief minister Udhhav Thackeray over the current coronavirus situation. Somaiya alleged that the State government is testing fewer samples and has not done enough to battle the coronavirus situation. He also accused the state government of imposing restrictions on good private COVID-19 hospitals amid the shortage of ICU facilities in govt run hospitals.

Stop creating "Bhram"

"In Maharashtra, only 7,000 testings are taking place out of which 2,000 people are coming positive every day. The State government should stop spreading rumours in these times. The situation has become grim here. The Uddhav Thackeray-led government has also imposed restrictions on some of the good private hospitals that were treating COVID-19 patients despite the fact that not many ICU facilities are now available in state-run hospitals," he said in a recorded video.

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August sees fastest growth of COVID cases in Maharashtra

According to the Union Health Ministry, Maharashtra has 2,21,012 active COVID-19 cases, out of the total, 6,36,574 have recovered and 26,276 died after contracting the lethal infection. Furthermore, the state has also reported the fastest growth is coronavirus infection in August by registering over 3.70 lakh cases, a senior state health official said.

The state has reported 3,76,587 COVID-19 cases last month, 2,41,820 cases in July and 1,04,748 cases in June, according to data of the Maharashtra health department.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in the state on August 1, was 4,31,719, which jumped to 8,08,306 on September 1. This is probably the fastest growth of cases in the state since January, the health official said adding that one of the reasons for the growth in the number of positive cases is the increased number of tests. He also said last month the state carried out 20,16,809 tests. "The number of tests conducted till August 1 was 21,94,943, which rose to 42,11,752 on September 1. The state is aggressively testing which is helping in detection of the infected people," the official said.

The official informed that the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths are continuously going up in the state. Between August 1 and 5, the number of COVID-19 cases rose by 36,546, and between September 1 and 5, the number went up by 75,556, the official said. Apart from this, the state reported 15,316 deaths due to the virus till August 1 and the number went up to 24,903 on September 1, as per the data. Between August 1 and 5, 1,160 people died due to COVID-19, and between September 1 and 5, 1,373 people died, the official said.

READ | With 478 fresh cases, overall tally rises to 17,032 in Puducherry

'Conduct more tests'

Meanwhile, the Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis said the state needs to conduct more tests. "Out of the daily tests, a sizable number is of the antigen tests which are not completely reliable. The RT-PCR tests, which are more reliable, should be done on a large scale, which will be able to tell the ground reality about the coronavirus," he said.

However, the health official said the antigen tests are comparatively cheaper than the RT-PCR tests and hence, conducted more as a precautionary measure. 

READ | August sees fastest growth of coronavirus cases in Maharashtra

READ |With 478 new cases, overall coronavirus tally rises to 17,032 in Puducherry

(With inputs from agencies)