Mumbai: Maharashtra's deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Monday asked the Kolhapur administration to increase Covid-19 testing as the positivity rate continued to remain higher in the district. He also warned the citizens against letting their guards down, news agency PTI reported.

'In the first wave of the pandemic, the district administration did a commendable job by controlling the infection. However, the positivity rate in the district in the current second wave is still on the higher side. The review meeting discussed measures like the requirement of drugs etc to check the transmission,' PTI quoted Pawar as saying.

The deputy chief minister's remarks came after he conducted a review meeting with state health minister Rajesh Tope regarding the Covid-19 situation in Kolhapur.

The district administration has been directed to double the number of samples tested daily for coronavirus disease. 'Currently, 9,000 tests are being conducted in the Kolhapur district every day. We told the district administration to increase this number by at least one-and-a-half times or double it. If the testing is increased, no doubt the number of cases will increase for a week, but the case positivity rate will fall in the coming days,' Pawar further said.

Kolhapur is currently under the level-4 classification by the state government in its five-layered unlock plan. Districts reporting higher positivity rates are placed under this level. Warning the residents that lockdown-related restrictions can't be eased if the cases continue to remain high, Pawar said 'As Kolhapur district falls under level-4, no relaxations will be given in restrictions. If people do not follow the Covid-19 appropriate behaviour, the rules will be made more stringent. I urge the people to adhere to rules and eradicate the coronavirus,' PTI reported., he stressed that vaccination is the key to overcoming the disease and in districts where the vaccination rate is higher, the positivity rate is lower. He also assured the people that the number of centres administering the jabs would increase once the supply is increased. He further lauded the district administration for the work done so far and promised of all assistance from the state government.