At 25,833, Maharashtra reports sharpest one-day spike in Covid-19 cases

Maharashtra as well as Mumbai, India’s worst Covid-19-hit state and the city, reported the sharpest one-day spike of 25,833 and 2,877 infections on Thursday

Maharashtra as well as Mumbai, India’s worst Covid-19-hit state and the city, reported the sharpest one-day spike of 25,833 and 2,877 infections on Thursday. On September 11, the state reported the previous highest single-day-- 24,886 -- cases. In Mumbai, 2,848 record new cases were reported on October 7.

Passengers violate social distancing norms at a bus station in Nagpur on Wednesday, March 17. (ANI)

The government on Tuesday admitted Maharashtra was in the middle of a second Covid-19 wave days after a central team’s report said there was the beginning of one.

The daily caseload earlier in Maharashtra dropped to as low as fewer than 2,000 cases in the first week of February. After reporting 1,927 infections on February 2, fresh cases rose to 6,397 on March 1, 10,216 on March 6, 15,051 on March 15. They crossed the 20,000-mark after 172 days on March 17 (23,179).

Tatyarao Lahane, the director of the Directorate of Medical Education and Research, said although it is the peak, one more week is needed to assess the situation. “We need to assess whether the figures come down or go upwards from here. This will require at least a week. We have, however, managed to reduce the number of deaths from the peak of 350 to 60. Even this, too, needs to be curtailed further,” said Lahane. Lahane added the cases have also increased because of more testing.

Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday said the Centre has its go-ahead to 134 private hospitals to start vaccinations and asked the authorities to chalk out a plan to vaccinate 300,000 people daily.