Shawdesh Desk:

The chief minister of the western Indian state of Maharashtra has warned a full lockdown could be imposed unless Covid-19 cases begin to fall.

Uddhav Thackeray said people were failing to take precautions and warned the state’s health system could become “inadequate” within weeks.

Maharashtra recorded at least 47,828 cases on Friday.

The same day, India reported 81,466 new cases, and 469 deaths – the highest daily spike since December.

Some people were getting Covid-19 after being vaccinated because they had stopped wearing masks, he added.

Last Sunday, he asked officials to prepare a plan to impose a lockdown and said people were not following safety rules.

Pune city has already imposed a curfew and closed religious places, hotels, bars, shopping malls and cinemas for a week.

The government has also brought down the cost of PCR and rapid antigen tests in a bid to tackle the outbreak.

(BBC)