Maharashtra reports over 10,000 new Covid-19 cases in nearly 5 months

Maharashtra reports massive single-day spike of 10,216 Covid-19 cases, 53 deaths; total cases near 2.2 million

Maharashtra reported 10,216 fresh cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in the past 24 hours, the highest daily infections since mid-October last year, taking the state’s tally to 21,98,399, according to the health ministry on Friday. This is the first time since October 17, 2020, that the single-day count in the state has gone above the 10,000- mark after reporting 10,259 infections on that day. The state also registered 53 fatalities, which have pushed its death toll to 52,393, data showed.

A boy walks past a graffiti amidst the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on a street in Navi Mumbai (Reuters)

There were 9,855 cases on Wednesday in Maharashtra and the number of infections saw a dip on Thursday with 8,998, according to the state health ministry. The health ministry data also showed that 6,467 people recovered from Covid-19 on Friday. The number of recovered cases is slightly lower than the number of total cases. The state has also tested 90,580 people in the last 24 hours taking the tally of the total number of tested individuals to 16,686,880. The data also showed that the case fatality rate is currently at 2.38%.

Pune and Nagpur have the highest number of active cases in the state, as per Friday’s data. Pune currently has 18,401 active cases while Nagpur has 11,552 active cases. Maharashtra currently has 88,838 active cases. The districts which have more than 3,000 active cases are - Mumbai (9055), Thane (9579), Aurangabad (3424), Amaravati (5,260), Pune(18,401), Nagpur(11,552), Akola (4,411) and Jalgaon (3606).

The state government has warned citizens against breaking Covid-19 guidelines saying that violators will be fined. It has also asked people to remain indoors to prevent themselves from getting infected.