Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) director general Balram Bhargava on Thursday said that patterns of coronavirus infection in Maharashtra was
showing a worrying trend. He highlighted the issue, saying that the surge
in cases was mostly due to things like reduced testing, tracking, large congregations rather than the mutant strain of the virus, news agency ANI reported.

“Maharashtra has shown a worrisome trend. The mutant strain has not
been found incriminating in this surge in cases. It is just related to reduced
testing, tracking & tracing and COVID inappropriate behaviour and large
congregations”, ANI quoted Bhargava as saying.

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The state on Wednesday recorded a new high of 13,659
daily cases, the highest single day spike this year. This took the total
caseload in the state to 22, 52,057.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said on Thursday that strict
lockdown measures were set to be imposed in some parts of the state.

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Several parts of Maharashtra, including Mumbai, saw a spur in cases in recent weeks.