AMN
Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope has said that there is no reason to panic on the sudden spike of COVID-19 cases in the state and Mumbai in particular and said, the situation is under control. Speaking to reporters today, the Minister said, there were 135 new cases in the state yesterday with 85 cases in Mumbai alone.
He said, when the state has seen 45,000 cases in a day, this figure is not alarming. Mr Tope said, the current rise can be considered to be very nominal and the situation does not require taking cognizance though the government is keeping a close eye on the situation.
Talking about the vaccination process, Mr Tope said, the government is taking special care for the vaccination of the children belonging to age groups of 12 to 15 and 15 to 18 years. He said, the government is making efforts to spread awareness among the parents to get their children vaccinated and also taking the help of schools to expedite the process. About the booster dose in adults, the Minister said, the Union Government has made it compulsory, however, anyone can get it administered in private hospitals after checking their anti-bodies level.
On wearing face mask, Mr Tope said, it’s not mandatory, but stressed on its importance for wearing it by senior citizens and comorbid people while visiting public places. He said, the government would surely relook into this matter and take a decision at the right time. On being asked whether schools would continue function normally as there have been more cases of the children getting infected, Mr Tope said, he does not see any reason to stop normal functioning of the schools as the state is doing its best for controlling the spread of the infection.