COVID-19 cases have increased due to ‘Mission Begin Again’: Maha govt

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government on Sunday admitted that the number of Covid-19 patients has increased due to ‘Mission Begin Again’. Public health minister Rajesh Tope said that the deadly infection is spreading rapidly day-by-day.

Speaking with the reporters, he said that the policy of the state government is to unlock the restrictions and restart the economy in a phased manner. Under the unlock phase, the provision of e-pass has been revoked for inter-district travel, hotels have been allowed to reopen and number of employees in government and private offices has been increased too. This has led to a rise in the number of daily Covid-19 cases in the state as well as the nation due to large scale human-to-human contact.  

Tope also expressed his displeasure with the Central government for not providing personal safety equipment (PPE kits) and other health items including RT-PCR kits. He said that he had received a letter from the Central government which categorically mentioned that PPE Kit, RT-PCR kit, mask and ventilator would not be provided to the state government.  

Tope said, “The system has become lethargic but we are on mission mode and we will ensure that this should not happen again”.