55,469 new Covid-19 cases reported in Maharashtra

Amid the partial lockdown imposed in the state, Maharashtra on Tuesday recorded more than 50,000 cases with 55,469 new Covid-19 infections (its second-highest single-day spike after April 4) and close to 300 deaths with 297 deaths, taking the tally to 3,113,354 and toll to 55,469.

Amid the partial lockdown imposed in the state, Maharashtra on Tuesday recorded more than 50,000 cases with 55,469 new Covid-19 infections (its second-highest single-day spike after April 4) and close to 300 deaths with 297 deaths, taking the tally to 3,113,354 and toll to 55,469.

(Anshuman Poyrekar/HT Photo)

Mumbai also registered upwards of 10,000 new cases, with 10,040 new cases and 32 deaths. The state has 472,283 active infections, as of Tuesday.

According to the Centre’s Ministry of health and family welfare (MoHFW), seven of the top 10 districts with high active cases are in Maharashtra. These include Pune (84,309), Mumbai (79,368), Thane (61,127), Nagpur (57,372), Nashik (31,688), Aurangabad (17,818) and Ahmednagar (17,405). The other districts include Bengaluru Urban, Delhi, and Durg in Chhatisgarh. The state accounts for 58% of all active cases and 34% of all Covid-related deaths in the country, the ministry said. Starting Monday 8pm, the state has imposed a partial lockdown with all non-essential shops shut, a night curfew of 11 hours, and a stricter weekend lockdown.

Experts say that with the health infrastructure burdened, the restrictions can help control the spread. Dr Shashank Joshi, a member of the state-appointed task force said that the situation will improve in the coming two to four weeks.

Cases in Maharashtra have increased from an average of 3,000 in February to more than 40,000 every day since April 1. The state’s weekly positivity rate had also decreased to 6% towards the beginning of February, which has now increased to 24% last week.

However, amid the grim statistics, the state on Tuesday said that more than 8 million people have been vaccinated in the state. Dr Pradip Vyas, principal secretary, state health department, said the state had received more than 10 million dose, of which, 8.8 million has been utilised. The state vaccine wastage is around 3% and more than 400,000 people are being vaccinated every day in the state, Vyas said.

Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, on Monday, also wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide more doses, especially for the six affected districts in the state. On Tuesday, state health minister Rajesh Tope also reiterated the state’s demand for more doses. In his interaction with union health minister, Tope also said that the Centre must ask states to divert their oxygen supply to Maharashtra, considering the increasing number of cases in the state.

“The state produces 1200MT of oxygen, of which, 80% has been reserved for medical and pharmaceutical purposes. However, the demand in the state is increasing. The Centre must direct states which are not utilising much oxygen to divert it to Maharashtra,” Tope is said to have informed the Centre. He also reiterated the demand for opening vaccination for all those above 25 years of age