Maharashtra sees 3,623 new Covid cases, no sign of rise in cases

Maharashtra’s count of new Covid cases is 6,497,877. The state also saw 46 deaths, taking the toll to 138,142. Pune and Ahmednagar reported the highest toll with nine deaths each

Maharashtra on Sunday recorded 3,623 fresh Covid-19 cases, pushing the count to 6,497,877. The tally of active cases again increased to 50,400. However, there is no sign of a rise in Covid-19 cases.

Maharashtra has been reporting between 4,000 and 5,000 cases in the past 12 days, except four days when daily cases dropped to fewer than 4,000. (Satish Bate/HT Photo)

State also saw 46 deaths, taking the toll to 138,142. Pune and Ahmednagar reported the highest toll with nine deaths each. Around 2,972 recoveries were reported in the past 24 hours.

The state has been reporting between 4,000 and 5,000 cases in the past 12 days, except four days when daily cases dropped to fewer than 4,000. On Saturday, it reported 3,075 cases, the lowest since February 9. In the past 12 days, it has reported 48,067 cases, which is less than 69,344 cases reported in the corresponding period last month.

Amid the threat of a potential third wave, the state government is not considering re-imposing any fresh curbs anywhere in the state as of now, as there is still no rise in daily figures. At the same time, it is also taking decisions on lifting restrictions in a gradual manner, according to the state authorities.

“As the head of the state disaster management authority, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray will take the decision on reopening religious places. Ganesh Chaturthi is going on and Dussehra and Diwali festivals are ahead. Even if the daily cases are reduced, the decision on religious places will be taken if the situation will be under control after Dussehra and Diwali festivals,” Tope told reporters in Jalna on Sunday.

Dr Shashank Joshi, a member of the state task force said the state is on red alert because of the festive season as it is still clocking around 3,000-4,000 cases a day and active cases are more than 50,000. “Just after Onam, there was a peak in Kerala, similarly we will come to know the true impact of Ganesh festivals after two weeks. Our test positivity rate has dramatically come down but we have to be very cautious and keep testing because our test positivity rate has to be around 1% or lower than that and Covid deaths need to be zero,” Dr Joshi said.

Earlier, the Central government directed the state government to take precautions during upcoming festivals.

“We still are looking at the thinning of the tale of the second wave and it appears that the third wave, if at all comes, will come by December or January. We are still on red alert because we want people to behave responsibly and there should be double masking and at least 80% of our population needs to be vaccinated with two doses,” added Dr Joshi.

In Maharashtra, there are six districts of concern — Pune, Thane, Sangli, Satara, Solapur, Kolhapur and Mumbai.

On Sunday, Pune reported 707 cases (including district and city) Satara, 390, Mumbai 357, Sangli 264, Solapur 223, Thane 102 and Kolhapur 89 cases.

With 357 cases, Mumbai’s case tally stands at 735,055. It also recorded seven fatalities taking the toll to 16,022.

In the last 24 hours, the state tested 143,791 samples and had a positivity rate of 2.51%. However, the overall positivity rate of the state stood at 11.61%, according to the data issued by the state health department.

The state vaccinated 181,584 doses on Sunday and has administered a total 67,887,466 doses to date, according to the data available on the Co-Win portal.