The Maharashtra Government on Monday scaled up measures to combat the spread of Coronavirus in the State by allocating Rs 45 crore for six revenue divisions in the State and postponing the local body polls by three months, even as the total number of Covid-19 cases rose to 39 in the State.
After reviewing the situation arising out of the spread of Coronavirus in the State with the divisional commissioners and collectors across the State through video-conferencing, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray announced that those who were under 100 per cent self quarantine at their homes would be stamped on their left hands, so that they could be identified.
The State Government’s decision to tag the patients who have been put under 100 per cent quarantine at their homes came in the wake of seven patients with symptoms of Coranavirus fleeing from isolation wards in the Ahmednagar Civil Hospital and the Mayo Hospital in Nagpur over the weekend.
The patients who had fled the hospitals have returned to the two hospitals. “In the wake of the two hospital fleeing incidents, the state government has taken steps to secure public quarantine facilities to prevent patients from leaving again. The local police will carry out regular checks on patients who have been quarantined themselves at home,” Uddhav said.
Having invoked the Epidemics Disease Act, 1897, the state government is attempting to to establish testing and quarantine in private hospitals if required, take punitive action against those who violate quarantine rules and restrict access to geographical areas to control the outbreak of Coronavirus.
In Mumbai alone, there are more than 500 persons are in self-quarantine.
The Chief Minister said that the State Government had made available television set, carom boards and food at public quarantine centres.
With six more fresh positive cases, the total number of positive Covid-19 rose to 39 in the state. While Pune and the neighbouring Pimpri-Chinchwad accounted for a maximum of 16 cases, the break-up of positive Coronavirus cases elsewhere in the state was: Mumbai-6, Nagpur-4, Yavatmal-3, Panvel-1, Kalyan-3, Navi Mumbai-3, Thane-1, Ahmednagar-1 and Aurangabad-1.
Addressing a news conference in Mumbai, the chief minister announced a host of measures, including the closure of schools in the rural areas, restrictions religious and political events that contribute to crowds, postponement of local body polls by three months and made an allocation of Rs 45 crore as disaster relief for five revenue divisions. The disaster relief allocation made comprised: Rs 15 crore for Konkan, Rs 10 for Pune revenye division, Rs 5 crore each to the revenue divisions of Nagpur, Amravati, Aurangabad and Nashik. Making a fervent plea to the people in combating Coronavirus, Uddhav said: “Patients may have been affected by Covid 19, but they should not be treated as criminals. They will be treated with utmost empathy while taking into consideration their psychological needs. It is important to maintain a humane approach."
The chief minister underscored the need for initiating measures aimed at the safety of the population. “It is essential for the district level officials need to communicate the same effectively and provide public sanitation facilities equipped with essentials like sanitizer, soap and water supply,” he said.
Uddhav said that as part of the effort to prevent large gatherings at religious places, the authorities were denying permissions to such events "We have asked the officials at the district levels to prevent regular gatherings at religious institutions of all faiths
"People can take part in large gatherings and festivals once the threat has passed. Safeguarding human life is the topmost priority right now. This rule, however, does not apply to daily prayers at places of worship. However, we have requested that the places of religious worship restrict the presence of worshippers for some time," a news release put out by the chief minister’s office said.
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra Government announced that the Universities in the state had decided to postpone exams till 31 March.
“After risk assessments, the Higher & Technical Ministry has decided to postpone all university exams, in its jurisdiction, to a date later than 31st March, 2020 All educational institutes must therefore observe a complete temporary closure till further notice,” Maharashtra Minister Aditya Thackeray tweeted.