The chief minister Udhhav Thackeray said his state will make a decision on extending the lockdown beyond May 3 soon.
Mumbai: On Sunday, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray said “80% of patients of COVID-19 were asymptomatic” in the state, which has the highest number of infections in the nation.
The high figure increases the probability of a silent spread of the virus and highlights on the need for more testing as more and more people become carriers, who can possibly spread the infection further without displaying any symptoms.
In Rajasthan, which has over 2,100 confirmed cases, also about 80% of patients have been asymptomatic, as per health officials.
Chief Minister said Maharashtra has succeeded in slowing down the spread of COVID-19 owing to the shutdown and he will examine the situation before making any decision on giving relaxations.
As per official data, a large chunk of the cases in the state are currently limited to major cities like Mumbai and Pune, and a lockdown extension could be restricted to such urban centres, officials have told News18.
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Addressing the state live through various social media platforms, the Thackeray said his state will make a decision on extending the lockdown by the end of this month.
“We will take a call on what to do after the 30th,” CM said. For now, he said, “We are restarting some things. I am going to study it (the plan) this evening. We have to see how we return to normalcy slowly”.
Uddhav Thackeray asked the people to have patience, saying there is “no other choice” at the moment.
811 new COVID-19 cases were recorded as of 8:00 AM on April 26 in Maharashtra, as per Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Taking the total recorded cases of COVID-19 in Maharashtra to 7,628.
The total cases infected as on date include 1,076 who have recovered and 323 who passed away.
Mumbai has the highest number of novel coronavirus cases at 3096 infections. Following which, Pune had over 660 cases.
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