Maharashtra records 9,000 cases: No improvement in Covid situation even after a month

Maharashtra on Sunday recorded 9,000 new Covid-19 cases, pushing the count to 6,149,264

Maharashtra on Sunday recorded 9,000 new Covid-19 cases, pushing the count to 6,149,264. The tally of active cases increased to 103,486. The state reported 5,756 recoveries in the past 24 hours. The state saw 180 casualties, taking the toll to 127,031. Satara reported the highest fatalities with 32 deaths, followed by Pimpri-Chinchwad with 20 deaths.

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Daily Covid-19 cases have not gone down in the past month which has become a cause of concern for state authorities. Experts have stated the local administration will have to work on mission mode to ensure decline in cases.

Since June 14, the state has been reporting 8,000 to 10,000 cases each day with a few exceptions when less than 8,000 cases were reported. Despite lockdown restriction in place, the situation is not improving. In the past 18 days, the average daily cases stood at 8,489, as compared to 8,843 cases recorded in the first nine days of this month. Last month, the number stood at 10,542.

“Plateauing of daily cases means our efforts need to improve at the local level. If local administration wants the figures to slide down, they will have to strictly follow all standard measures. We need to focus on urban and congested areas,” said Dr Subhash Salunkhe, state advisor on Covid-19 and former director general of health services.

He said the state is in a condition where the situation may reverse if not taken seriously. “For the state administration, there is no alternative but to again go back to the mission mode to contain the spread. If the vulnerable population is increased then cases will again explode and the situation may reverse,” he said.

According to health officials, western Maharashtra region is currently the most-affected with the highest cases. Kolhapur, which reported 2,267 cases on Sunday of which 215 were from Kolhapur city, is the worst-hit district. Sangli and Satara reported 996 cases and 783 cases, respectively.

After cases of Delta-plus variants were found, the state government has imposed stricter norms by reducing the five-level relaxation plan to three. The first two levels with maximum relaxations were removed till further order, according to a notification issued by chief secretary Sitaram Kunte on June 25.

As per the current restrictions, malls and theatres have been completely shut and not more than five people can gather at a public place. Shops selling essentials can stay open till 4pm on a daily basis and those related to non-essential services are allowed to operate only on weekdays. Gyms, saloons are operational till 4pm, with appointments and without air-conditioners. Restaurants can operate till 4pm only on weekdays, after which only takeaways are allowed.

On Sunday, Mumbai clocked 455 cases, taking the case tally to 731,158. It also recorded 12 fatalities, pushing toll to 15,702.

In the past 24 hours, the state tested 220,784 samples and had a positivity rate of 4.07%. However, the overall positivity rate stood at 13.66%, according to the data issued by the state health department on Sunday.

A total of 124,907 doses of vaccine were administered on Sunday, according to the data available on CoWIN portal. Till date, 39,511,619 doses have been administered.