Maharashtra records 51,751 new Covid-19 cases, tally moves close to 3.5 million

As many as 52,312 patients recovered from the coronavirus disease in the last 24 hours, taking the recoveries to 2,834,473 so far

Maharashtra on Monday reported a significant drop in its daily new cases of the coronavirus disease with 51,751 Covid-19 infections and 258 related fatalities. With this, the state’s tally rose to 3,458,996 and the death toll climbed to 58,245, the health department data showed. Active cases of Covid-19 in the state declined by 841 cases and currently stands at 564,746 from the 565,587 reported on Sunday.

Maharashtra reported 51,751 new Covid-19 cases and 258 new deaths on Monday. In picture - Travelers undergo thermal screening at Dadar railway station in Mumbai. (HT Photo)

The state reported its highest single-day spike of 63,294 infections on Sunday. A decline of 11,543 cases from Sunday's tally has been observed alongside a significant drop in the number of samples tested in the last 24 hours. As many as 208,021 samples were tested for the coronavirus disease on the day, which is much lesser than the 263,137 tests conducted on the previous day.

Meanwhile, as many as 52,312 patients recovered from the coronavirus disease in the last 24 hours, taking the recoveries to 2,834,473 so far and the recovery rate to almost 82 per cent, according to the latest data.

Maharashtra, the worst affected state in the country, has been reporting a high number of daily new Covid-19 cases since the second wave of the pandemic started in India. Previously, the state had reported 55,411 cases on Saturday and 58,993 infections on Friday. Also, the number of daily new cases have remained above 40,000 every day since the beginning of April.

The Union ministry of health and family welfare on Monday flagged Maharashtra as one of the 10 states that accounted for 83 per cent of the overall new infections detected on the day. Maharashtra alone accounted for almost 37.5 per cent of these new cases, data from the ministry showed. Also, the state 349 fatalities to the 904 deaths reported, the ministry noted.

In terms of active cases, Maharashtra contributes 47.22 per cent to the overall active cases in the country, the ministry said. Other top contributors include Chhattisgarh with 7.52 per cent, Uttar Pradesh with 5.93 per cent, Karnataka with 5.77 per cent and Kerala with 3.72 per cent. India’s active caseload currently stands at 1,201,009, which is 8.88 per cent of the overall confirmed cases in the country, according to the last update by the ministry.

Among the districts, Pune with 110,000 active cases, Mumbai with 89,125, Thane with 75,683, Nagpur with 59,756 and Nashik with 37,760 are the top five highest contributors in Maharashtra, according to a bulletin from the state government on Monday.

Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray met with the state’s Covid-19 task force on Sunday, during which a state-wide lockdown to control the transmission of the disease was discussed. “In today's meeting with the state Covid-19 task force, everyone was of the view to impose lockdown in the state. SOPs and guidelines for it will be discussed in the next meeting,” news agency ANI quoted state minister Aslam Sheikh as saying on Sunday.