Maharashtra may see 2 lakh active Covid cases in Jan, warns official amid third wave fears

Maharashtra may start reporting a total of two lakh active Covid-19 cases by the third week of January, news agency ANI reported, quoting state additional chief secretary health Dr Pradeep Vyas on Friday. 

“Based on the current trend of rising Covid cases in the state, it is expected that we will have about two lakh active cases by the third week of January 2022. Separate instructions are issued for managing these numbers, in case some of them need hospitalization,” said Dr Pradeep Vyas.

He also warned people to not take the Omicron surge lightly. "Don't be lulled by the narrative that third wave or Omicron wave is mild and not fatal. It's equally fatal for those who are not vaccinated and have comorbidities. So please improve vaccination coverage and save lives," he said.

This comes as Maharashtra reported over 8,000 fresh Covid cases, including four of Omicron variant, in the 24 hours ending Friday evening. The state saw 1,766 recoveries in the same period, which pushed the daily active tally to 24,509.

On Thursday, the state had reported 5,368 new Covid cases.

In view of the spiking cases, the Maharashtra government has announced fresh curbs on attendance at weddings, social, political, religious events, and funerals.

"In case of marriages or any other social, political or religious event, the maximum number of attendees shall be restricted to 50 persons. The maximum number of attendees is restricted to 20 in funerals," a state government order read.

“In any other part of the state which are tourist spots that attract a large crowd of people such as beaches, open grounds, etc, the competent authority may as deemed appropriate, impose section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973,” it stated. 

Further, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar also sounded a warning and said that strict restrictions may be clamped if the new cases continue to rise in the state. 

"If the number of patients continues to rise then there will be strict restrictions. To avoid strict restriction everybody should follow norms," he said.

Earlier, Maharashtra minister Vijay Wadettiwar had said that the stage of imposing a fresh lockdown is approaching in Maharashtra but Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will take a call on it.

India has recorded over 1,400 cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus so far, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Saturday.

Maharashtra has recorded the maximum number of 454 Omicron cases followed by Delhi (351), Kerala (118) and Gujarat (115).