Maharashtra goes slow on unlock amid fears, records first Delta plus death

MUMBAI: Bracing for a surge in

Covid-19

cases brought on by the highly transmissible

Delta

plus

variant

, Maharashtra has rolled back

relaxations

in districts and cities where theatres, malls, multiplexes had opened and private firms were permitted 100% staffing. This includes Navi Mumbai, Thane, Nagpur and Pune. The move came even as the state reported its first death from the variant.

The government has effectively done away with the first two levels of unlocking - level 1 and 2 - that offered the most relaxations, citing the potential threat of an "imminent" third wave which is expected to be "more severe", according to an order by chief secretary

Sitaram Kunte

on Friday.



This does not change anything for Mumbai though, which is at level 3 despite being eligible for level 1. All districts and cities in level 1 or 2 will slip to 3.

Irrespective of indicators like weekly positivity rate and oxygen bed occupancy, unlocking will now be only at three levels, starting with 3 at the easiest and going up to level 5. Those at level 4 and 5 will continue to face the restrictions applicable.

Most cities in MMR will be at level 3, except places in Raigad district which were at 4 last week. Going by indicators last week, there were 25 districts in the state eligible for level 1, 8 at level 3 and 3 at level 4. “This revision has been done in the wake of the emergence of the Delta plus variant and the advisory received from the Centre,” said Aseem Gupta, relief and rehabilitation secretary.



The order says new variants like Delta, Delta plus may precipitate a more severe third wave in 4-6 weeks across a wider geographical area. So far, 21 cases of the Delta plus variant have been reported from the state. “A big problem this time was that the public was just not cooperating. Crowding, no adherence to health norms were being reported on a large scale,” said an official.

To make the mechanism stricter, the government will allow ranking to shift to an easier level only after a declining trend is observed for two weeks. Earlier, decisions were based on a week’s data. However, to tighten, a twoweek period may not be considered and districts will not require permission from the government to impose fresh restrictions.



Also, to determine the weekly positivity rate, only RT-PCR tests will be taken into account and not antigen or other tests, which throw up more false negatives.

Dr Rahul Pandit, a member of the state task force on Covid-19, said the revision in guidelines is not surprising. “The five-point formula to

unlock

is a dynamic process… at the moment, cases are coming down but not fast enough. There is a threat of the Delta plus variant,” he said.



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