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Maharashtra Covid-19 cases reach 1,297 in a month; mortality rate double than India’s
On March 9, Maharashtra reported its first case of Covid-19 when a couple in Pune were tested positive for Sars-CoV-2 virus.
Exactly a month after Maharashtra registered its first of coronavirus disease Covid-19, India’s worst-affected state has 1,297 infected patients and recorded 72 deaths. From Wednesday evening to Thursday morning, the state reported 162 more cases. Of this, 143 have been reported in Mumbai, three each in Pune and Aurangabad, two in Pimpri-Chinchwad and one each in Vasai-Virar, Yavatmal and Sindhudurg.
On Thursday morning, the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) also released an updated list of the containment zones in the city. Mumbai has 381 containment or no-go zones in total.
Mumbai continues to be the hardest hit with 714 cases and 45 deaths. Mumbai’s Dharavi, with one of the largest slums in Asia, recorded its second death on Wednesday and 13 Covid-19 positive cases. The state crossed the 1000-mark in 30 days, with a mortality rate double than that of the entire country.
On Wednesday, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said that numbers are increasing as the government has launched door-to-door surveys. “We do not wait for patients to come. We have increases tests in Mumbai and Pune,” Thackeray said in his address to the state.
On March 9, Maharashtra reported its first case of Covid-19 when a couple in Pune were tested positive for Sars-CoV-2 virus. The couple had returned from Dubai. The next day, three more people in the city, who has come in contact with the couple, tested positive.
The state government maintains that Maharashtra is still on stage 2, where disease transmission is limited to those with travel history and those who come in contact with the infected person. Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope on Wednesday said that the state is yet to enter stage three. He also said that although the numbers are increasing, its not multiplying. 117 patients, of the 1,135, have been cured and discharged till date, he said.
Amidst this speculation of community transmission, Mumbai civic body on Wednesday made it mandatory for citizens to wear masks in public places. Failing to wear masks may result in offenders getting arrested under section 188 of the Indian penal code.
