Maharashtra sees sharp spike in Covid-19 cases since Wednesday as tally nears 2.1 million

Since the start of the pandemic in India in January last year, Maharashtra has been among the worst-affected states. According to the Union health ministry, the state is the second-highest contributor to India’s daily caseload.

Maharashtra registered 20,590 coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases from February 6 to February 12 out of which 169 people lost their lives while over 20,200 have recovered. The state’s weekly average of Covid-19 cases stood at 2,941 and there has been a sharp increase in the daily tally since Wednesday (February 10). The total caseload is nearing 2.1 million and the recoveries stand at 1,972,475. The rising graph happens to coincide with the unlocking the state has effected. Schools are gradually reopening in the state and Mumbai locals have been thrown open for all with time restrictions from February 1.

As many as 3,451 cases were added on Wednesday; 3,297 on Thursday and 3,670 cases were added on Friday recording the highest during the week. (Ravindra Joshi/HT Photo)

As many as 3,451 cases were added on Wednesday; 3,297 on Thursday and 3,670 cases were added on Friday recording the highest during the week. Friday also saw the highest deaths of the week (36 ), which pushed the overall toll to 51,451. On February 8, Maharashtra recorded the lowest number of Covid-29 cases (2,216) and deaths (15) in this week. Meanwhile, the highest number of recoveries from Covid-19 for the week was on Thursday (February 11) when 6,107 people got cured/discharged/recovered.

Since the start of the pandemic in India in January last year, Maharashtra has been among the worst-affected states. According to the Union health ministry, the state is the second-highest contributor to India’s daily caseload. In September last year, the daily cases exceeded 18,000 and the highest ever surge was on September 10, when 23,446 Covid-19 cases were reported.

However, as Covid-19 started receding nationwide, Maharashtra too was seeing an improvement in the overall situation. On October 6, 2020, 10,244 cases were reported which had been the lowest in the preceding two months. From there, the Covid-19 cases further went down and just over 1,924 cases were seen on January 18 this year, which had been the lowest since May 2020. But the Covid-19 curve in Maharashtra is on the rise again since the beginning of February.

As many as 608,570 people have been administered Covid-19 vaccine doses till now in the state with 34,889 people vaccinated on Thursday. Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said on Thursday mobile laboratories for testing Covid-19 would be made available across the state. These labs could conduct 3,000 tests per day and reports would be available in 24 hours, he added. Amid the wake of the new Covid-19 strain from countries such as the United Kingdom (UK) and South Africa, Thackeray said the government would continue to prioritise tracing and treatment of infected patients.