Maharashtra witnesses steady rise in Covid-19 cases, 32 active cases in Pune district

According to the Mahrashtra public health department, 106 new Covid cases were reported during the week of July 30 to August 5

With the World Health Organisation raising alarm over a new Covid variant, codenamed Eris that is rapidly spreading across the United Kingdom, Maharashtra has seen a steady rise in Covid cases in the past week. However, experts claim the new variant spreads rapidly and can infect several people.

On average, the state has been reporting around 70 new cases per week for the past two months. (REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE)

According to the Mahrashtra public health department, 106 new Covid cases were reported during the week of July 30 to August 5, which is the highest number of cases in over a month and a half. On average, the state has been reporting around 70 new cases per week for the past two months.

Pune district has also seen a slight increase in Covid-19 cases. Five new cases were reported on August 5, bringing the current number of active cases to 32.“For the past two months, the number of active cases has remained steady at around 20 cases. However, the number of cases has started to increase from last week,” said Dr Ramchandra Hankare, Pune district health officer

Maharashtra on Saturday reported 13 fresh Covid-19 cases, taking the state tally of positive patients to 8,1 70,241. Currently, there are 106 active cases in the state, said the officials.

Dr Kailas Baviskar, deputy director of health services, said, “At present, the dominant variant of Covid-19 in the state is Omicron XBB1.16. As many as 1,733 cases reported are found to be infected with this variant. The state has reported 19 deaths infected with the Omicron XBB1.16 variant.”

Since January 1, 2023; 126 Covid-19 deaths have been recorded in the state. 72.22% of these deaths have occurred in individuals above 60 years of age, 84% of the deceased had co-morbidities, while 16% did not have any co-morbid condition, said the officials.

Dr Rajesh Karyakarte, head, Microbiology department at BJ Medical College, and state Covid-19 task force member, said, “We are regularly conducting the genome sequencing of Covid-19 samples, and as of now, no cases of EG.5 have been reported in the state. People should take precautions as it spreads faster and can infect more people. High-risk people should take extra precautions, irrespective of the variant."