Maharashtra records 8,998 new Covid-19 cases, 1,104 fresh infections in Mumbai

Maharashtra’s infection tally has risen to 2,188,183 and its death toll has gone up to 52,340. The active caseload of Mumbai, meanwhile, crossed 9,000 to reach 9,041.

Maharashtra continued to witness a high spike in cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) as 8,998 fresh infections were reported in the western state on Thursday, according to the latest medical bulletin released by the health department. With this, Maharashtra’s infection tally reached 2,188,183, the highest in the country.

Commuters standing maintaining social distancing norms at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, in Mumbai (ANI).

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Maharashtra’s active caseload rose to 85,144 from 82,343 a day ago, with an increase of 2,801 cases, the bulletin showed. It also showed 6,135 more patients recovered from the viral disease in the last 24 hours and 60 succumbed to it, taking their respective tallies to 2,049,484 and 52,340.

The state’s present surge in cases began in the last week of February, with more than 8,000 new daily cases being recorded. This came to an end on March 1, when there were 6,397 infections, followed by 7,863 on March 2. Then on March 3, the daily tally went up with 9,855 infections, the highest single-day count in four months.

The number of new coronavirus disease cases in the state’s capital city of Mumbai were more than 1,100 for the second straight day. The infection tally of the metropolis increased by 1,104 to 329,846. The number of recovered patients in the city rose to 308,436 while related fatalities were up by five, taking the death toll to 11,492. Active cases, meanwhile, crossed 9,000 to reach 9,041, up from 8,594 on Wednesday.

Maharashtra is among the six states, the Union ministry of health and family welfare (MoHFW) has pointed out, which contribute nearly 86% of the country’s daily new Covid-19 cases. The other five are Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Karnataka.

On Thursday, Punjab also witnessed a major spike, recording more than 1,000 infections for the first time since October 5 last year. The northern state saw 1,074 new infections and 15 related deaths, taking its infection tally and death toll to 185,381 and 5,887 respectively.