Maharashtra posted yet another grim record on Saturday by registering 8,139 fresh Covid cases in the past 24 hours taking the total number of infections in the state to 2,46,600 including 10,116 casualties, 223 of which were reported in the last 24 hours, according to the data released by the state health department. On Friday, the state had posted 7,862 fresh cases- which was the previous record for daily infections.
The state also witnessed the recovery of 4,360 patients from the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of people cured from the infection to 1,36,985—which is more than the number of active cases in the state.
Mumbai on the other hand continues to witness a steady increase in the daily number of infections with 1,284 fresh cases reported over the last 24 hours. The metropolis had posted 1,337 coronavirus cases in the previous 24-hour cycle. The total number of Covid positive cases in Mumbai has now reached 91,745 including 5,244 casualties. 39 of these deaths were reported today.
While the Covid situation in the state continues to be worrying, it’s handling of the disease in Asia’s largest slum of Dharavi, situated in Mumbai, has come in for praise from WHO as well as state chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.
WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus cited Dharavi as among a few examples from the world that demonstrate how a “strong focus on community engagement and the basics of testing, tracing, isolating and treating all those that are sick is the key” to breaking the chains of transmission and suppressing the virus.
{{/usCountry}}WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus cited Dharavi as among a few examples from the world that demonstrate how a “strong focus on community engagement and the basics of testing, tracing, isolating and treating all those that are sick is the key” to breaking the chains of transmission and suppressing the virus.
{{/usCountry}}Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took stock of the coronavirus situation across the country along with preparedness of states and issued directions for real-time national level monitoring and guidance for all affected states and places with high test positivity rates.
“Priority is close monitoring and guiding the containment works in regions where the infection rate is high,” the prime minister wrote on Twitter.
The Maharashtra government has increased restrictions in several high caseload districts including Pune, where a 10-day long lockdown is being clamped beginning Monday. The state government today transferred Pune Municipal Commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad and replaced him with Vikram Kumar, who is currently the CEO of Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority.
The state government is battling the disease on multiple fronts. According to an official report, 774 Covid-19 cases have been reported from state’s 14 jails. 600 of these cases are among the inmates and the remaining 174 are staff members.
Nagpur Central Jail is the worst-affected with 219 cases, followed by Mumbai Central Jail which has 181, while Akola and Solapur prisons have 72 and 62 cases respectively, the prisons department official told PTI.
300 additional beds were added to Covid-19 hospitals and treatment facilities in rural areas of Maharashtra’s Thane district, an official said, adding that at least 500 more beds will soon be made available, taking the bed capacity to 2,000 in Thane rural.
In another related development, the state government issued an order to restrict the height of Ganpati idols installed during the Ganesh festival to only four feet. It also advised that Ganesh idols installed at home cannot be taller than two feet. The official notification also advised Ganesh Mandals to postpone immersion of idols in the view of the raging contagion.