Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray informed the Prime Minister on Thursday evening that the state administration has increased the number of Covid tests, and they are being expanded further. Thackeray requested an additional supply of vaccines as well as provision of oxygen and ventilators from other states, said a press statement issued by Chief Minister office.

The statement said, in a video conference with the Prime Minister Thackeray said vaccination could be further enhanced if a proposal sent by the state government to produce the vaccine at its Haffkine Bio-Pharmaceutical Corporation Ltd is approved soon.

The pace of testing in Maharashtra is good, the Health Ministry said in today's presentation. In the state about 71 per cent RTPCR and 28 per cent antigen tests are being carried out, which should be increased even if it is a satisfactory situation, said the Union Health Secretary in the statement.

The Chief Minister informed that the objective was to vaccinate about 1.77 crore people in the priority group, for which 40 lakh vaccines should be supplied every week. So far, the state has received supplies of 1 crore 6 lakh doses. Till date, 92 to 95 lakh doses have been given. At present, Maharashtra’s stocks are low and some centres are closed. The Central Government has said that 17.43 lakh doses will be supplied after April 15, but this will hamper the vaccination drive. Therefore, full delivery should be done as per Maharashtra’s demand, the statement said.

On the other hand, the number of COVID positive patients continues to rise in Maharashtra. According to a statement issued by the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme of the State Health Department, on Thursday evening 56,286 new cases were reported in the state, taking the total number of patients to 5.21 lakh. Pune district continues to have the highest number of cases at 97,242, followed by Mumbai at 83,693. The state reported 376 COVID deaths today with a case fatality rate of 1.77 per cent. Currently, 27.02 lakh people are in home quarantine and 22,661 people are in institutional quarantine.

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