Kunal Kamra lauds Maha CM for 'transparency' amid COVID-19 after state recruits workforce from Kerala

The Maharashtra government has formally written to the Kerala government seeking assistance to fight the Covid-19 pandemic in the worst-hit Mumbai-Pune industrial-commercial belt.

Lauding the initiative, comedian Kunal Kamra wrote on Twitter, “I applaud @CMOMaharashtra for the transparency & dedication shown to fight Covid - 19. @PMOIndia you must know that we the people of Maharashtra are ashamed at the petty politics BJP is playing at a grave time like this, Maharashtra will unite beyond ideologies with ideas.”

The development came days after Maharashtra's Health Minister Rajesh Tope spoke to Kerala's Health and Social Welfare Minister K. K. Shailaja and discussed the Covid-19 pandemic challenges.

Now, the Maharashtra government has sent an official letter seeking doctors and nurses for the pandemic crisis here.

Dr T.P. Lahane, Director, Medical Education and Research, -- who is the Nodal Officer, Covid-19 -- has said in the near future, the number of cases are expected to increase in Mumbai and Pune.

He has requested Minister Shailaja for a 50-member team of specialist doctors and nurses to assist the Maharashtra health authorities.

For their services, Maharashtra is prepared to pay MBBS doctors Rs 80,000 a month and Rs 2 lakh per month for MD/MS specialist doctors, which include physicians and intensivists.

For the Trained nursing staff, the state will pay Rs 30,000 a month.

The Maharashtra government will also provide accommodation, meals, required medicine and personal protective equipment to all the visiting doctors and nurses.

"In view of the emerging situation, the Maharashtra government has decided to set up a 600-bedded COVID Health Care Center at Mahalakshmi Race Course in Mumbai City. It also included a 125 bedded ICU," says the letter by Lahane.

The state has also made available the service of private medical practitioners but still requires the service of many more doctors and nurses.

Lahane also mentioned that he spoke with Santhosh Kumar, Vice President of Doctors Without Borders in South Asia, who had agreed to help in providing the required healthcare professionals to this state.

A record 6,977 new coronavirus cases and 154 more fatalities were reported in the last 24 hours in India, taking the total number of such cases on Monday to 1,38,845, a Health Ministry data revealed.

In the worst-hit Maharashtra, the total cases surged past 50K to 50,231, including 1,635 fatalities and 14,600 recoveries.