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227 deaths in 24 hours; Maharashtra again reports nearly 40,000 new Covid cases
On October 20, there were 213 deaths in 24 hours. Since then, the daily toll started falling as the Covid-19 situation was gradually improving.
Maharashtra's daily tally of Covid-19 infections on Wednesday again shot up and reached near the 44,000-mark as the state reported 39,544 new cases in the last 24 hours. The single-day toll broke records as 227 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours. This is the first time after October 20, 2020, that more than 200 deaths have been recorded in a day.
On Tuesday, Maharashtra's daily tally dipped to 27,918 while the single-day toll was 139. On Monday, the state reported 31,643 new infections and 102 deaths in 24 hours. The dip in the number in the previous two days can be attributed to a fewer number of tests in the state, owing to Holi festivities.
Maharashtra rules out statewide lockdown for now, localised curbs possible
The spike comes at a time when the state government is divided over imposing lockdown-like restrictions after a night curfew of 8pm to 7am has been imposed in the state. Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope on Wednesday said people should be ready for stringent measures in the coming days. However, many NCP leaders are not in favour of a lockdown and some Shiv Sena leaders too are not sure whether a lockdown will be the most effective.
The Nagpur district, which is one of the highest contributors to the state's daily new Covid-19 cases, will come out of lockdown from April 1 as the district authorities have decided against extending lockdown restrictions again. The initial lockdown in the district was imposed from March 15 to March 21 and got extended to March 31. There will be no extension, minister Nitin Raut has said.
In Mumbai, under the area of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, a fake message of Coronavirus infecting children and yuth till the age of 30 has been doing the rounds, which the BMC has busted as fake and said there is no need to panic and while there is no restriction on activities like going to malls, theatres, everything has to be done adhering to the Covid-19 guidelines.
