Nine districts account for 50% of fresh Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra

The state’s active case count was 132,241, while the state’s overall tally rose to 5,972,781. Mumbai reported 747 fresh Covid-19 infections and 19 deaths

Even as the number of Maharashtra’s daily Covid-19 cases has reduced comparatively, a major chunk of the fresh infections is being recorded from the rural areas of nine districts. The state added 9,361 infections on Sunday, of which 5,194 were from the rural parts of Raigad, Ahmednagar, Pune, Solapur, Satara, Kolhapur, Sangli, Ratnagiri, and Sindhudurg districts. The state’s active case count was 132,241, while the state’s overall tally rose to 5,972,781. Mumbai reported 747 fresh Covid-19 infections and 19 deaths. The city’s active caseload was 18,591.

Representational image. (Satish Bate/HT PHOTO)

These nine districts have been reporting around 50% of the state’s cases for some time now. The state health department and experts said that the viral activity works in a different manner and parts showing higher numbers will eventually go down. On Sunday, 761 cases were reported in Ratnagiri, 728 in Satara, 725 in Kolhapur rural, 643 in Raigad, 579 in Pune rural, 572 in Sangli rural, 549 in Ahmednagar rural, 329 in Sindhudurg and 308 in Solapur rural, the state data said. These areas reported 55.48% of the new cases on Sunday.

Dr Subhash Salunkhe, former director-general of health services (Maharashtra) and advisor to the state on Covid-19, said, “Western Maharashtra areas, particularly Kolhapur, Satara, Sangli, and Ratnagiri and Sindhdurg in the Konkan region, are not showing a distinct decline as we are seeing in other parts. The virus does not behave in the same manner across geographical limits. The virus could have entered late in these rural areas,” he said. Besides these areas, the other major contributors remain Mumbai, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Pune city and Pimpri-Chinchwad. These areas clock around 25% of the state’s daily case count. On Sunday, MMR (excluding Mumbai) added 1,253 cases, while Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad added 553 cases. Collectively, Mumbai, MMR, Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad contributed to 27.27% of Sunday’s cases.