With people flouting COVID-19 norms, Maha CM asks administration to prepare for lockdown

Amid the rising numbers of coronavirus cases in Maharashtra, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday instructed senior officials of the State Health Department and the COVID task force to prepare for lockdown as people continue to violate COVID-19 protocols.

Thackeray's remarks came at a meeting of senior officials of the state's health department and the state government's COVID-19 task force.

During the meeting, the Chief Minister was informed that the way the number of cases is increasing on a daily basis, Maharashtra may soon face a scarcity of beds for COVID-19 patients.

The Health Department officials also informed Thackeray that the rising number of COVID deaths is also alarming.

The Chief Minister observed that people are not taking the guidelines seriously and that is why serious steps, similar to a lockdown, need to be considered.

Maharashtra reported 35,726 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total number of cases to 26,73,461 in the state, as per the health bulletin on Saturday.

According to the state health bulletin, the active cases of COVID-19 on Saturday stood at 3,03,475. Over 54,000 people have lost their lives to the deadly disease in the state.

( With inputs from ANI )