Former CM Fadnavis briefs PM Modi on 'ground reality' about COVID in Maharashtra

Visiting COVID-19 affected places in entire Maharashtra, former CM Devendra Fadnavis, on Friday, briefed PM Modi on the state's Maharashtra COVID-19 scenario. Speaking to media persons in Delhi, he said that PM Modi has queried about rise in cases in several parts of Maharashtra and what could be done to reduce them. Moreover, he suggested that Maharashtra must ramp up testing like Delhi to reduced the rise in cases.

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Fadnavis briefs PM Modi on Maharashtra's COVID scenario

"After a fruitful discussion with several Union Ministers, I believe that the Centre will take an appropriate decision. I have toured the entire Maharashtra and have now briefed PM Modi on the ground scenario about COVID-19 in the state. While the Centre has been extending help to Maharashtra government, I felt, as an intermediate politician, I must assure the same," he said.

He added, "PM asked me about the scenario in Mumbai, Pune, Vidharbha, Marathwada and asked why were cases increasing and what steps must be taken. I feel that people's issues must reach the government and have been briefing them about it, suggesting improvement areas after consulting experts, sharing good practices. I have been asking ramping up testing as done in Delhi, which has resulted in a reduction in numbers. I feel the same should be done in Mumbai and the rest of Maharashtra".

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Fadnavis tours Maharashtra

In a bid to know the ground reality about COVID-19 situation, Fadnavis recently completed a three-day tour visiting Thane, Navi Mumbai, Kalyan Dombivali, Mira Bhayander, Ulhasnagar and Panvel. Prior to that, Fadnavis toured north Maharashtra, Marathwada, Jalgaon, Nashik and Aurangabad. While CM Uddhav Thackeray has refrained from moving away from Mumbai except on some occasions, the ruling parties have questioned the reason behind Fadnavis' extensive visits. The former CM has defended it saying that it is part of an exercise to reach out to people “reeling under hardships”.

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Maharashtra's COVID battle

Maharashtra on Friday clocked a whopping 8,308 new cases of Coronavirus disease, taking the overall tally of confirmed cases to 2,92,589, informed the state health department. The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 11,452 after 258 patients succumbed to the illness in the last 24 hours. The number of recovered patients jumped by 2,217 in the same period to reach 1,60,357. As of July 1, there are 1,20,480 active cases in Maharashtra.

COVID-19 situation in Thane, nearby areas alarming: Devendra Fadnavis