Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said 'My Family, My Responsibility' will be launched from September 15.
In its fight to check the rising number of coronavirus cases, the Maharashtra government has announced it will start a statewide door-to-door campaign from September 15 to not only screen its population for COVID-19 symptoms but also educate people about the symptoms to ensure early detection of the disease.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led state government, on Friday, launched a scheme - My Family, My Responsibility - to cover 2.25 crore families in Maharashtra, which recorded the highest number of new coronavirus till now.
Maharashtra reported 19,218 new COVID-19 cases pushing its tally close to the 9-lakh mark. The state reported 378 fatalities during the day, 38 of them from Pune city, taking the death count to 25,964, said a health department official. The spike in cases broke Thursday's record of 18,105 cases.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray announced that the health department will launch the campaign in two phases - September 15 to October 10 and October 12 to October 24 - with help from NGOs and elected representatives.
As a part of the campaign, volunteers will impart health education to people, besides conducting door-to-door meetings during which they check residents' body temperature and oxygen levels, besides other symptoms, including tiredness, throat pain/dry cough, diarrhoea, and loss of smell and taste.
Volunteers will also check for co-morbidities such as diabetes, heart and kidney ailments, and obesity, and refer them for appropriate treatment.
The campaign will be implemented at the level of gram panchayat and municipal corporations with the help of elected representatives, a statement said.
Besides rising cases, the campaign was also initiated on the back of easing of restrictions, which has contributed to the spread of COVID-19.
Earlier, during the lockdown, the state government had started the campaign 'Chase the virus' to "trace, test and treat" Covid patients to contain the spread of coronavirus in the state.
As per the economic survey, the state has a population of 11.24 crore.