Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said on Friday that a total lockdown could be imposed in the state if the COVID-19 situation doesn’t show any improvement for two more days.

“There are 2.2 lakh isolation beds in the state out of which 62 percent are occupied, 48 percent of 20,519 ICU beds are occupied, 25 percent of 62,000 oxygen beds are occupied while 25 percent of 9,347 ventilators are in use,” Thackeray said.

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“If this situation continues, the prevailing health facilities would be inadequate,” the chief minister warned.

“We will increase the number of beds, ventilators, oxygen but what about health professionals? How will we get more manpower? In the last one year, most of them have suffered from COVID,” he said.

Referring to an industrialist’s suggestion that health infrastructure should be upgraded instead of imposing lockdown, he said those giving this suggestion should also provide expert manpower to monitor the health infrastructure.

“Till now, we have administered 65 lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses, including three lakh vaccine doses yesterday,” Thackeray said.

But some people are getting infected even after vaccination because they stop wearing masks, he added.

People have become complacent, the chief minister noted, adding “I cannot rule out imposing lockdown if the current situation prevails.”

His government wanted to safeguard the economy and livelihood of the poor, but it also wanted to save lives, Thackeray said.

“I am talking to experts on whether there is an alternative to a complete lockdown and how to break the virus chain. I agree lockdown is harmful. In a day or two, guidelines for stricter restrictions will be announced,” he said.

He appealed political parties not to politicise the pandemic situation.

The state recorded its highest tally of 47,827 new infections on Friday, up from the previous high of 43,183 new cases registered on Thursday, as the overall tally increased to 29,040,076 — adding over 1,00,000 infections in just three days, after recording 28,129,80 cases on March 31.

Four days after the death toll crossed the 54,000-mark on March 28, the state added 481 fatalities on Friday, (comprising the day`s toll of 202, plus 279 old, reconciled deaths), taking the overall death toll to 55,379, the worst in the country.

Over 2.20 million people are in quarantine, either at home or in institutions, as the state grapples to control the infection.

The state`s recovery rate continued to drop further, from 85.02 percent on Thursday to 84.62 percent on Friday, while the death rate worsened from 1.92 percent a day earlier to 1.91 percent.

The number of active cases has jumped up from 366,533 to 389,832 now.

Mumbai, Pune, Nashik and Nagpur circles remained the major concern areas due to the galloping figures of deaths and new cases, followed by Latur, Aurangabad, Akola and Kolhapur circles.

Incidentally, the Kolhapur circle — comprising Kolhapur, Sangli, Sindhudurg, and Ratnagiri districts — is the only one that did not report a single fatality on Friday, besides recording the lowest new cases — 604 — for the day.

Mumbai, the country`s commercial capital, reported its highest ever single-day tally of 8,844 new cases on Friday, taking up the overall figures to 432,367, besides reporting 11,727 fatalities till now.

The Mumbai Circle — comprising Mumbai, Thane, Palghar and Raigad districts — notched its highest daily tally of 15,321 new cases on Friday, taking the total up to 919,382, while its overall death toll reached 20,520.

As cases continue to soar in the glamour capital, the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has sealed a whopping 657 buildings, besides 70 slums/chawls Mumbai to check the spread of the virus.

India recorded 89,129 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, the highest single-day spike since September 2020, taking the total tally to 1,23,92,260 on Saturday.

The country has been recording an unabated spike in cases from over three weeks.

(With agency inputs)