Lockdown can be imposed in Maha if govt can't cope with COVID-19 surge: Tope

Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope has said that a complete lockdown of two to three weeks is required in the state to improve the health infrastructure in view of the surge in COVID19 cases and added that such a step could be taken if the government is unable to cope with the situationHe however expressed hope that with the curbs in place at present the government would be able to tame the surgeTope also admitted that the chalta hai laidback attitude had creeped in after the government flattened the infection curveWe would need a complete lockdown for 15 days to three weeks even though I am not in favour of that immediately If hospitals are overwhelmed if there is a shortage of medicines and if the government is unable to cope with the growing number of patients then such a step can be taken Tope told NDTVLockdown is required to ramp up the health infrastructure he saidI hope we can contain the virus with the present curbs We will be happy and content We are hoping for the best he saidTope said the state government was concerned over the spike in cases and need handholding by the CentreHe rejected the allegations of mismanagement on the part of the state government saying that the numbers were rising because it was not hiding anythingWe have followed the principle of rigorous testing tracing and treatment he saidThe chalta hai attitude did creep in after the government was able to flatten the curve and opened up several activities We thought there would be no second surge he saidTope also rejected the criticism of the Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan against the state government saying that the state had adhered to all the protocols laid down by the CentreHe reiterated there was discrimination against the state in allotment of vaccines Recently we were given seven lakh doses and after we pursued our demand for more we were given ten lakh additional doses he saidSo far Maharashtra has got 104 crore vaccine doses and we have sought 40 lakh per week so that we can expedite the daily vaccinations to six lakh per day he saidIn Mumbai out of 120 centres 70 were shut since there was no stock and the situation was embarrassing the minister saidWe sought weekly stock of 40 lakh vaccines so that we get time to transport them to different parts of the state he saidMaharashtra reported 56286 new coronavirus cases on Thursday which took its caseload to 3229547 while on Wednesday it had recorded the highest daily count of 59907 casesLast Sunday the state government announced a weekend lockdown and a number of strict restrictions till April 30 including a night curfew and prohibitory orders during the day time to contain the spread of the virusThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever