Lockdown not a solution for COVID-19 surge in Maharashtra, says Chandrakant Patil

Pune (Maharashtra) [India], March 29 (ANI): Lockdown is not a solution, said Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil amid speculations of lockdown in the state in view of the surge in COVID-19 count.

“Lockdown is not the solution. We will protest against lockdown. If lockdown is imposed then the government should announce a package to people affected by lockdown,” Patil told reporters here. 

Meanwhile, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Rajya Sabha MP Amar Sable on Monday alleged that Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government has failed to control the second wave of COVID -19 in the state.

Speaking to ANI, Sable said, "The second wave of COVID-19 in Maharashtra has caused havoc. At this time, saving the lives of people and giving relief to the public should be the biggest priority of the government but, unfortunately, that is not happening."

At a meeting with senior health officials and the COVID-19 task force, Maharashtra Chief Minister warned that the cases are rising because people are not following guidelines seriously and that is why strict steps, like lockdown, are needed to be considered.

Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh have reported a high number of daily new COVID-19 cases and they account for 84.5 per cent of the new infections reported in the last 24 hours, the health ministry informed on Monday.

On Sunday, Maharashtra reported 40,414 new COVID-19 cases and 108 related deaths.

With 3,27,241 active cases in Maharashtra, the state is the worst-affected in the country.  (ANI)