283 new Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra, 187 of them in Mumbai

Earlier on Sunday, Maharashtra saw the biggest single-day spike in Covid-19 positive cases of 552 on Sunday, amid growing concerns that the curve is no way near to be flattened in the state, as was being expected by the authorities.

Maharashtra reported 283 new coronavirus disease (Covid-19) positive cases till 11 am on Monday, as the total count in the state went up to 4,483, the maximum in the country.

Deserted view of Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) during restrictions on citizens' movement due to COVID 19 pandemic in Mumbai. (Satish Bate/HT Photo)

Of the 283 new cases, 187 have been recorded in Mumbai, 21 in Thane, 22 in Vasai-Virar, 16 in Kalyan-Dombivli, nine each in Navi Mumbai and Pimpri-Chinchwad, seven in Mira Road-Bhayander, six in Panvel, two in Raigad, one each in Nagpur, Satara, Solapur, and Bhiwandi, state public health minister Rajesh Tope said. No new death reported on Monday morning, as the toll still stood at 223, he added.

Earlier on Sunday, Maharashtra saw the biggest single-day spike in Covid-19 positive cases of 552 on Sunday, amid growing concerns that the curve is no way near to be flattened in the state, as was being expected by the authorities.

The state took 30 days to cross the 1,000-case mark on April 7 but added another 1,000 cases in only six days on April 13. The 3,000-case mark was reached in just three days on April 16, and the tally jumped to 4,200 in an equal number of days.

The state government is worried that if the Covid-19 positive cases continue to climb at the current alarming pace, it would be difficult to contain the spread of the viral outbreak. “We were planning to convert Orange Zones, which have less than 15 Covid-19 positive cases, into Green Zones that have reported not a single case to date, but many districts are being added to the former category. The spurt in the number of Covid-19 positive cases in some parts of Mumbai such as Dharavi and Worli shows that our containment plan is not foolproof,” said an official from the state health department, requesting anonymity.

Anup Kumar Yadav, director, National Health Mission (NHM), Maharashtra, attributed the sudden spike in the number of Covid-19 positive cases to the pending test results from the government-approved private laboratories.

“We have to verify the data of all the Covid-19 positive cases and it is a time-consuming process. First, private laboratories send us the data and then to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. At times, we come across a discrepancy in the reporting of Covid-19 positive cases,” the official said. Besides, Covid-19 positive case figures need to be observed closely over the next week in a bid to come to a conclusion over the movement of the curve, he added.

The state government has eased certain lockdown restrictions from Monday morning in keeping with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs’ guidelines issued last week. It has allowed 10% of government employees to join work from the earlier 5% and industrial units in rural areas have resumed operations.

Besides the supply of essential commodities, kirana shops, outlets selling sweets and snacks such as farsan have been allowed to open from Monday. Construction activities have also started.

But the lockdown restrictions are strictly enforced in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region and the Pune Municipal Corporation, which are the major Covid-19 hotspots in Maharashtra.