Maharashtra sees 6,126 new Covid-19 cases, 195 deaths

The state has 72,810 active patients, of which Pune tops with 15,216 patients, followed by Thane with 5,984 and Mumbai with 5,034 patients

Even as the state government rolled out relaxations from the lockdown curbs from Tuesday by allowing shops to operate for a longer period, restaurants to operate even on weekends, the state administration is wary of the rise in the daily caseload. The district and municipal corporations have been directed to not lower their guards and ensure that the lockdown and Covid-19 protocols are followed properly.

A healthcare worker collects swab samples for Covid-19 test of the passengers arriving from outstation trains at Dadar station. (Pratik Chorge/HT PHOTO)

Keeping its trend of daily caseload, Maharashtra reported 6,126 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday taking the tally to 6,327,194 and the death toll to 133,410 with 195 fresh deaths. The state has 72,810 active patients, of which Pune tops with 15,216 patients, followed by Thane with 5,984 and Mumbai with 5,034 patients. Around 447,681 people are under home quarantine, while 2,928 are in institutional quarantine.

The daily test positivity rate on Wednesday was 2.89% as 6,126 of 211,678 tests were declared positive.

As part of its Mission Begin Again, the state government has started rolling out relaxations from the curbs imposed for the last four months. Barring 11 districts with the high positivity and growth rate, the relaxations have come into effect from Tuesday. According to the presentation made by the health department on Tuesday, the positivity rate in 10 districts is above the state rate of 3.53%. Satara (7.56%), Sindhudurg (6.73), Sangli (6.37%), Pune (6.31%), Kolhapur and Ahmednagar (6.01%) are among the highest weekly positivity rate. Most of these districts have a high growth rate of over 0.30% against the state rate of 0.10%.

As of August 1, the number of active patients in Maharashtra was 78,962, while 32,380 patients are admitted to various hospitals. Around 11,931 patients are serious, with 4,418 of them being treated in the intensive care unit (ICU). Of the total serious patients, 1,692 are on ventilators, while 2,726 are on oxygen support.

Amid the relaxations, the state government is apprehensive about the possibility of the rise in daily caseload due to crowding at the public places. “It has been witnessed that whenever we open up the activities, the number of cases start increasing in a week. After opening up the local trains for all in MMR (Mumbai Metropolitan Region) on February 1, the daily caseload in MMR started surging from mid-February. Though the crowding at the public places is witnessed rampantly by violating the curbs, the relaxations rolled out will result in more crowding, leading to the rise in infection. The enforcement authorities need to be more vigilant while implementing the relaxations,” said an official from the health department.

Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope said that the local authorities of the districts with high positivity and growth rate of infection have been directed to follow the set protocol and increase the rate of vaccination to avoid the severity of the infection.

“The positivity rate in districts like Sangli, Satara, Kolhapur and Pune is too high comparing the state average and in some districts, it is around 9%. We have directed them to follow the protocol related to the tracing, testing of the high and low-risk contacts to keep the spread in check. The recent flooding in these districts had affected the isolation, but the situation is now coming to normal. We have also directed these administrations to increase the rate of vaccination so that herd immunity is achieved soon. It has been witnessed across the globe that the high rate of vaccination helps in reducing the infection rate and also keeps the severity in check,” Tope said.

Tope said that the district administrations have been directed to ensure that the Covid-appropriate behaviour should be maintained after rolling out the relaxations from the lockdown curbs. “Local administration is expected to ensure that the curbs are followed appropriately while implementing the relaxations. It is sometimes difficult to follow the norms properly. But we are apprehensive about the rise in the cases as the festive season is approaching. The threat of the third wave is looming large though nobody knows when it will hit us. Against this backdrop, it is important to follow the set protocol for all of us,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mumbai reported 359 new cases and nine deaths taking the tally to 736,016 and the toll to 15,920. Pune (1014), Sangli (783), Kolhapur (412), Ratnagiri (212) were among the districts to report more cases on Wednesday.