AURANGABAD: Maharashtra has received a large number of ventilators under the PM CARES fund and the ones that are faulty must be replaced without any politics being played on it, senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis said on Monday.

He was speaking to reporters after attending a review meeting with divisional commissioner Sunil Kendrekar. "Maharashtra has got nearly 5,000 ventilators through PM CARES fund. Many of them were kept packed for nearly four months, so the faulty ones must be replaced quickly. This is not a topic to play politics on," the former chief minister said.

A PIB release of May 14 of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had said media reports of some 'Made in India" ventilators not functioning properly in Aurangabad were "baseless and incorrect, and not supported by full information on the matter".

Speaking on the COVID-19 situation in the region, Fadnavis said, "The number of cases had come down in Latur and Aurangabad but the positivity rate was still high at 21 per cent. The situation in Beed needs attention."

Fadnavis said the setting up of oxygen storage tanks in large numbers was a good a sign and would help in the future, adding that preparing for a possible third wave was important. He said that Mucormycosis was first reported in Maharashtra which allowed the state to procure injections for its treatment in time, while other areas in the country are facing a shortage.

Fadnavis said he had spoken to firms manufacturing medicines for the black fungus infection and the latter had ramped up production.