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India Covid crisis: Fears of possible third wave in Maharashtra growing

Mumbai - Government task force warns new wave could even impact children

There are fears of a third wave of the Covid pandemic striking Maharashtra in a month or two with the highly virulent ‘Delta plus’ variant aggravating the crisis. A government task force warned that the new wave could even impact children.

Health department officials briefed chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on the possible third wave, which could see at least 800,000 active patients, a tenth of who could be children. The first wave had seen about 1.9 million infected persons in Maharashtra, while the second one included four million people.

Thackeray emphasised on the need to increase vaccination coverage in the state and was confident that with India getting 420 million doses of the vaccine by August and September, the state would get a substantial quantity of it.

The chief minister also stressed on the importance of social distancing to prevent the spread of Covid-19. RT-PCR tests need to be increased and PPE kits have to be provided, he added. Medicines and health equipment must be provided in both urban and rural areas.

Dr Rahul Pandit, a taskforce member, said it was necessary for people to avoid crowded places and to opt for double masking. After emerging from a devastating second wave of the Covid pandemic, Maharashtra went in for a five-level graded relaxation across the state from June 7. These are revised weekly considering the ground situation.