Maharashtra heading for lockdown?

Mumbai: Maharashtra is heading towards a lockdown if the situation does not change, the State's Health Minister Rajesh Tope said on Friday.

"We are heading towards a lockdown, but I hope that we don't have to go for one. Before that if we contain the virus, we will be happy, satisfied and contented. We are hoping for the best," Tope told the news channel in an interview.

He said at present he was not in favour of a lockdown. "But when hospitals are overwhelmed, we have a dearth of doctors, there is a shortage of medicines and we are not able to cope with daily numbers, at that time, the thumb rule is that we should impose a lockdown immediately so we can ramp up our capacities and can prepare for the situation."

He was responding to a question on whether Maharashtra was staring at the possibility of a full lockdown.

"The purpose of a lockdown is to break the chain. Worldwide it is seen that a lockdown of at least 15 days to three weeks is a must and should be followed very strictly. Only in that period we can have good impact."

Maharashtra has been recording the highest number of cases each day in the second wave of the coronavirus sweeping India. While battling a record surge in its daily cases, the State has been locked in a political war of words over vaccine supply.

The Maharashtra government has been flagging the shortage of vaccines, which, it says, have forced centres to shut down in cities like Mumbai, Satara, Sangli and Panvel.