Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday said that Maharashtra has been preparing for the third wave of COVID-19 since last month.

He also said that the authorities are keeping a close tab on COVID-19 situation in the state.

"Central government's scientific body has warned about 3rd wave of COVID. We're preparing for that since last month. Several districts are seeing a decline in COVID cases while some districts are seeing an increase in cases. We're keeping a close tab on it," news agency ANI quoted him.

The government on Wednesday said that a third wave of coronavirus pandemic was "inevitable", although a time-frame for it could not be predicted. In a press briefing by the Ministry of Health Affairs on Wednesday, officials said the long COVID wave of such "ferocity" that the country was experiencing currently "was not predicted". Twelve states, including Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh, have more than 1 lakh active COVID cases, the government said.

Maharashtra on Wednesday reported 57,640 fresh COVID-19 positive cases, 57,006 discharges, and 920 deaths.

On Tuesday, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said that 15 districts, including Mumbai and Thane, are showing a decline in daily COVID-19 cases, but other districts are still exhibiting an upward trend in the state. He said the government is targeting to reduce the number of coronavirus infections in the districts with high caseload.

(With inputs from PTI)

(Edited by : Aditi Gautam)

First Published:May 5, 2021 8:51 PM IST