Maharashtra, Mumbai see highest-ever single-day spike of Covid-19 cases

Over 2.2 million have recovered in the state so far (11,314 recoveries today) while testing figures are at 18,356,200, the state health department's bulletin said.

Maharashtra on Sunday registered its highest ever single-day spike of 30,535 new Covid-19 cases and 99 related deaths, taking the caseload and death toll to 2,479,682 and 53,399 respectively, according to the state health department bulletin.

A health worker collects nasal swab of a passenger for Covid-19 test at a long distance train station in Mumbai on March 21, 2021. (AP Photo)

Over 2.2 million have recovered in the state so far (11,314 recoveries today) while testing figures are at 18,356,200, the bulletin said.

Its capital Mumbai too recorded the highest-ever daily number with 3,779 people getting infected of the virus on Sunday while 10 more people lost their lives. The fresh cases have now taken the caseload of the country’s financial capital to 362,675 including 11,586 deaths.

Daily cases in Maharashtra have been increasing at a rapid pace since February 10 after a majority of economic activities were re-opened. Experts have pointed out that the state has already been hit with a second wave of infections. The Maha Vikas Aghadi led-government on Friday announced fresh restrictions in the state till March 31 to curb the spread of the infection.

Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said on Friday that stringent measures will be brought into place if restrictions are not adhered to. Further expanding his point, Thackeray said that lockdown is an option in the near future due to the worsening situation but placed his trust on the state’s residents to cooperate and follow all Covid-related norms voluntarily, like they did last time, according to news agency PTI.

Several districts in the state such as Nagpur, Pune, Panvel etc have already been placed under lockdown, night curfews by their respective administrations. Nagpur, which has emerged as one of the worst hit regions in the state has extended its complete lockdown till March 31. As many as 3,614 fresh cases were reported in the district on Sunday, the most since the first ever case was seen.

Pune on the other hand is witnessing night curfew with restrictions on all social, political and cultural events. Presently, Pune has the maximum number of Covid-19 active cases in the country at 38,803, the Union health ministry’s data showed.

Maharashtra has so far vaccinated more than 4.26 million beneficiaries against the disease till now of which 3,670,363 have received the first dose and the remaining 595,149 have been administered with both doses.

With a view to vaccinate more beneficiaries quickly, state health minister Rajesh Tope said on Thursday that the state government aims to administer doses to 300,000 people per day adding he would monitor the vaccination drive. “We are moving toward another peak in infections of Covid-19 but there is no need to panic. About 95 per cent of all patients are asymptomatic. We want to be aggressive in vaccination. 300,000 doses per day is our target,” Tope told ANI.