Maharashtra records another highest single-day spike with 58,993 fresh Covid-19 cases

The Maharashtra government is considering imposing a lockdown if the state is unable to contain the surge.

Maharashtra on Friday recorded nearly 59,000 new cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and 301 related deaths, even as the health minister Rajesh Tope said a lockdown can be imposed in the state if the infections continued to surge. With the new cases and fatalities, Maharashtra’s tally stands at 3,288,540 and the death toll at 57,329, according to the state health department bulletin. Maharashtra, which is the worst-hit region in the country and witnessing the second wave of the pandemic that began around February 11, reported 56,286 new Covid-19 cases and 376 deaths on Thursday. The state recorded 59,907 cases on Wednesday, its highest daily spike since the beginning of the pandemic.

Commuters rush to board a suburban train at CSMT station prior to the night curfew in Mumbai. (ANI Photo)

“We would need a complete lockdown for 15 days to three weeks even though I am not in favour of that immediately. If hospitals are overwhelmed, if there is a shortage of medicines and if the government is unable to cope with the growing number of patients then such a step can be taken," Tope told a television channel.

However, Tope said he was hopeful that the government would be able to check the surge with the curbs which are already in place. Officials also said that the government was considering extending the weekend lockdown beyond Monday.

Mumbai's tally of the coronavirus disease crossed the 500,000-mark on Friday as the city reported 9,200 new cases and its death toll mounted to 11,909 after 35 patients died, according to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Mumbai’s caseload mounted to 5,00,898. The civic body’s data also showed that the number of deaths reported on Friday is the highest since October 26 last year, when 37 Covid-19 patients succumbed. The state’s capital city recorded 8,938 cases and 25 deaths on Thursday. The city has added nearly 100,000 new cases in the last 12 days.

The state’s health department has said the number of active Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra is likely to cross 1,100,000 by April 30 in the absence of adequate measures to control the spread of the virus. “We are recording more cases than we predicted. The state has already recorded 50% more active cases during this wave, in comparison to the previous wave in September 2020. If cases increase in this proportion, by April 17 we will have around 568,000 active cases,” Pradeep Vyas, the state health department principal secretary, said on Wednesday.

Officials have said the surge in the cases of the coronavirus disease caused stress on the health infrastructure in the state.