Delta Plus pushes Maharashtra back to strict restriction-mode

Owing to the threat of the more virulent Delta Plus variant the government is likely to go back to uniform restrictions across the states instead of the current policy of unlocking which is based on the availability of oxygenated beds and the test positivity rate On Wednesday the state Cabinet was shown a presentation on the new variant Chief secretary Sitaram Kunte read out a letter from the Centre which has asked the state to treat Delta Plus as a lsquovariant of concernrsquoSo far 21 cases of the new variant have been found across seven districts with coastal Ratnagiri topping the listThe cabinet expressed serious concern when it was told that Delta Plus escapes antibodies thus making vaccinated people vulnerable Reinfection can also occur despite antibodies that the recovered Covid19 patient may have developedChief Minister Uddhav ThackerayThe focus has now shifted to the unlock management which has lifted curbs in several districts based on prescribed parameters and weekly reviews Mumbai hasnrsquot upgraded to the next level of unlock despite qualifying for it but other places are back to normal with people giving utter disregard to Covid19 appropriate behaviourA source said Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray hasnrsquot been very happy with the weekly review system and wants the old one back to implement restrictions if possible more stringent ones uniformly across the state The new orders with revised parameters for unlocking were expected to released by Thursday morningCentre State in touchThe Centre has asked the state to be extra vigilant since the variant spreads faster and affects people more than the Delta variant The Centre is being informed about the development on a regular basisThe Cabinet was also informed about the current status of the pandemic in general on Wednesday Delta Plus is also the reason for reducing next monthrsquos Monsoon legislative session to two days from a fulllength affair the government saidldquoThough Delta Plus hasnrsquot fully replaced Delta and its presence isnrsquot significant as of now wersquore on high alert It is because the transmission rate is higher than the previous variant It is highly virulent and escapes antibodiesrdquo said Tope adding that fortunately none of the Delta Plus patients in Maharashtra died because of infectionThe state is updating the Centre about the new variant on a regular basisAccording to the minister the index cases are under close watch though most of them have been discharged The active cases are in isolation and being observed carefully Their travel history and vaccination record are noted and reinfection if any is also reported ldquoThe contacts ndash both high and low risk ndash have been traced or are being traced Their samples will also be sent for the whole genomic sequencingrdquo said the ministerIt was the whole genomic sequencing that the consortium of laboratories participated in and helped find the Delta Plus variant A hundred samples from each district were sent for sequencingAbout the overall pandemic situation the minister said the state has plateaued at 8000 cases per day from the peak of 65000 but it isnrsquot very encouraging because the number still isnrsquot reducing as expected ldquoWersquore at the 15th place in per million cases The daily 8000 number has been constant for the past week The number should dip furtherrdquo he saidNo manpower for pollsThe Cabinet has decided to tell the State Election Commission that it would be unable to provide manpower for holding the byelections of the local selfgovernment bodies in which the Other Backward Class OBC seats have been scrapped by the apex court The SC had told SEC to conduct elections The dates in July have been announced But the OBCs are up in arms against the decision and the governmentrsquos inaction in presenting the case in the court Protests have been organised and the BJP met the Governor to seek his intervention The Cabinet discussed the issue and as a feasible solution decided to deny SEC manpower in view of the pandemic100No of samples that were tested from every district for Delta Plus07No of districts where Delta Plus has been found