Uddhav Thackeray also urged people of the state to wear masks to avoid lockdown. (File)
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said he doesn't want to impose a lockdown in the state but "helplessness is also something". The remark came as the state has been reporting over 8,000 daily Covid cases for the last few days.
"I do not want to impose lockdown in the state but 'majboori' (helplessness) is also something," the Chief Minister said during a press conference in Mumbai on Sunday.
Earlier this month, Maharashtra crossed the 6,000-mark after a lull of three months. Mr Thackeray had said that he would have to announce a lockdown if the coronavirus growth was not stemmed in two weeks. The number of daily cases, however, crossed the 8,000-mark last week.
On Monday, Maharashtra reported 8,293 new coronavirus cases, 3,753 recoveries, and 62 deaths. 52,154 people have died due to the illness in the state so far. As many as 20,24,704 people have recovered from the disease.
According to the state health department, the recovery rate in Maharashtra is 93.95 percent and the fatality rate is 2.42 percent.
Mr Thackeray yesterday said the state government was monitoring the coronavirus situation. He also asked people of the state to follow all protocols laid down by the government to check the spread of the virus.
India, whose daily coronavirus total had dropped below the 10,000 mark in January, has been reporting an upsurge lately. On Monday, the country that has the second most infections in the world, reported 16,752 new cases.
The Centre has said that most of the new cases are emerging from eight states, including Maharashtra, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Punjab.