Maharashtra reports 63,294 Covid-19 cases in biggest daily surge since onset of pandemic

The state reported a rise of 7,883 cases from Saturday’s count of 55,411 Covid-19 cases.

Maharashtra, which has been witnessing a surge in the cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), recorded 63,294 infections on Sunday, taking the tally to 3,407,245, the state’s health department bulletin showed. The state reported a rise of 7,883 cases from Saturday’s count of 55,411 Covid-19 cases. The state also recorded 394 related fatalities, which took the death toll to 57,987. The case fatality rate is currently at 1.79%.

A deserted view of Bandra Station during the weekend lockdown imposed by the state government in wake of rising coronavirus cases, in Mumbai. (Bhushan Koyande/ HT Photo)

Maharashtra’s surge in the number of Covid-19 cases comes in the backdrop of 263,137 tests done in the last 24 hours. The current number of active cases in Maharashtra is 565,587. The state's tally of recovered people reached 2,782,161 as 34,008 recovered over the period of last 24 hours./

Mumbai reported 9,986 cases on Sunday, registering a marginal spike in the number of fresh cases. The financial hub reported 79 deaths in the last 24 hours.

Nagpur, Pune, Aurangabad, Nashik, Mumbai and Thane continue to be badly affected by Covid-19 are among the districts contributing the most number of cases to the national caseload.

The Centre on Sunday pointed out that the high-level teams deployed in 30 districts of Maharashtra reported severe reluctance among citizens towards following Covid-19 appropriate measures. It also said that districts like Aurangabad and Pune, which have reported a continual surge in cases, are facing issues with connection to hospitalisation.

The Maharashtra government is planning to impose a lockdown to arrest the surge in cases. A consensus regarding the lockdown was reached during an all-party meeting on Saturday and chief minister Uddhav Thackeray held another meeting with stakeholders on Sunday to work out the modalities of the lockdown in Maharashtra. The decision on the duration of the lockdown is likely to be announced soon.