Amid indications of COVID-19 cases plateauing in Maharashtra, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday warned there was no room for showing complacency and said the government is preparing to deal with a third wave of the infection.
He said though some districts have shown a steady decline in COVID-19 cases, some others are still exhibiting an upward trend, but the number of patients under treatment has dropped from what it was in April-end.
Thackeray said he has asked officials to work in a mission mode to ramp up the production of medical oxygen, used in treating serious COVID-19 patients, ahead of the third wave of the infection hitting Maharashtra, the worst coronavirus-affected state in the country.
"We are preparing for the third wave of the virus," Thackeray said addressing the state on social media.
The CM said the people of the state, where lockdown-like curbs are in place to stem the infection spread, should not become complacent just because there is a downward trend in coronavirus cases.
Thackeray said, "Though some districts have shown a decline in cases, we need to be ready for the third wave of COVID-19. The state task force on COVID-19 is currently engaged in guiding family doctors in district and tehsil places about treatment protocols. It will enable them to make accurate diagnosis and avoid over prescription of medicines."
Thackeray said the Supreme Court has appreciated the Mumbai municipal corporation's work to contain the coronavirus spread in the financial capital.
"As on April 25, there were almost seven lakh active cases in Maharashtra. The figure came down to 6,41,900 as on May 4. We have been able to control the cases up to some extent, but some districts are still showing a surge in COVID-19 cases.
"We have so far set up 4.5 lakh isolation beds, one lakh oxygen beds, 30,000 ICU beds and 12,000 ventilators," he said.
Thackeray said the state will have to increase oxygen generation capacity to 3,000 MT and has started working on it.
"We generate 1,200 MT oxygen every day but our consumption is 1,700 MT. I have given a target to officials to increase the production capacity to 3,000 MT before we hit by the third wave of COVID-19. I call it mission oxygen," he said.
On Wednesday, Maharashtra reported 57,640 new COVID-19 cases and 920 deaths.
