Maharashtra records 26,672 new Covid-19 cases in 24 hours; 594 deaths take toll to 88,620

As many as 29,177 patients recovered from the disease on the day and the overall recoveries so far reached 5,140,272.

Maharashtra on Sunday reported 26,672 new cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and 594 deaths in the last 24 hours, which pushed the state’s cases tally to 5,579,897 and the death toll to 88,620.

Maharashtra reported 26,672 new Covid-19 cases and 594 deaths in last 24 hours.In picture - Thermal screening at Dadar railway station in Mumbai. (PTI)

As many as 29,177 patients recovered from the disease on the day and the overall recoveries so far reached 5,140,272 with a recovery rate of 92.12 per cent.

The active caseload currently stands at 348,395, a decrease of 3,852 cases from the 352,247 reported previously on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the capital city of Mumbai reported 1,427 new Covid-19 infections which took the cases tally to 696,910. Also, 1,427 patients succumbed to their infections in the city as the death toll climbed to 14,565, the latest data showed.

The state has been witnessing a decreasing trend in the number of new cases detected after being battered by the second wave. Previously, the state detected 26,133 new cases on Saturday (May 22), 29,644 new cases on Friday (May 21) and 29,911 new cases on Thursday (May 20). However, the daily new fatalities have shown no signs of receding and have remained above 500 in the week. The worst was reported on Thursday (May 20) when 738 patients lost their lives to the disease.

Medical workers in the state conducted 290,155 tests on the day. So far, 33,013,516 samples have been tested for the disease in Maharashtra.

Pune with 51,182 active cases, followed by Mumbai (28,284 cases), Thane (24,894 cases), Sangli (19,211 cases) and Solapur (18,487 cases) remain the five districts that contributed the most to the state’s active caseload on Sunday, according to a bulletin from the state government.

Earlier in the day, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said that the Covid-19 vaccination drive for beneficiaries in the 18 to 44 years age group has been halted due to issues with the supply of vaccines. “Covid-19 inoculation drive for people under 18-44 years age group is suspended as supply of vaccines isn't smooth. I am hopeful that from June production capacity of vaccines will increase following which we can run 24-hour vaccination drives in the state,” news agency ANI quoted the chief minister as saying on Sunday.

On the vaccination front, 20,710,911 people have been inoculated in the state as of 7am on the day, of whom, 16,324,914 people have received their first shot and 4,385,997 have received their second dose, according to the Union health ministry.