2,940 new cases take Maharashtra’s Covid-19 tally to 44,582; toll crosses 1,500

Maharashtra and Mumbai recorded the highest single-day rise in Covid-19 cases on Friday, with their tally rising to 44,582 and 27,251 respectively. While the state reported 2,940 cases, there were 1,751 cases recorded in the city.

Maharashtra and Mumbai recorded the highest single-day rise in Covid-19 cases on Friday, with their tally rising to 44,582 and 27,251 respectively. While the state reported 2,940 cases, there were 1,751 cases recorded in the city.

Migrant workers and their family arrives at Bandra Terminus as a special train to Uttar Pradesh organised by Maharashtra government during nationwide lockdown. (Satyabrata Tripathy/HT Photo)

The state’s virus fatalities crossed 1,500, as 63 deaths were reported on Friday, taking the toll to 1,517.

Of the fatalities, 27 were in Mumbai, nine in Pune, eight in Jalgaon, five in Solapur, three each in Vasai-Virar and Aurangabad city, two in Satara, and one each in Malegaon, Thane, Kalyan-Dombivli, Ulhasnagar, Panvel and Nagpur.

Meanwhile, data from the state Medical Education and Drugs department has revealed that 86.74% of the state’s 39,144 Covid-19 patients are below the age of 60. The department has analysed data till May 20.

Of these patients, 3.61% cases are of people up to 10 years; 7.05% are between 11 and 20 years; 21.08% are between 21 and 30 years; 21.44% are between 31 and 40 years, 17.76% are between 41 and 50 years; and 15.80% are between 51 and 60 years.

State health department officials said measures to isolate and treat people, who are over the age of 60 with comorbidities, have helped keep them from contracting the disease.

“In Mumbai and in other hotspots, we have focused our search for people over 60 years as they are vulnerable. We have advised local authorities to isolate these people from densely populated areas,” a health department official, who did not want to be named, said.

Maharashtra has clocked more than 2,000 new infections every day for the past six days, recording 14,042 new cases and 382 deaths.

The state has witnessed a significant rise in Covid-19 cases since May 6, when it started reporting more than 1,000 cases daily. The health department official, however, said the state has not reached the community transmission stage yet as the growth in cases is not exponential.

State health minister Rajesh Tope, meanwhile, interacted with religious leaders and appealed to them to talk to people from their religions and sects about virus facts and measures. Tope, during the meeting held via video conferencing, said people have many misconceptions and fears about coronavirus. These need to be handled through the religious leaders. “Because of misconceptions and fears, people do not come forward despite having symptoms. And due to this, when they go to the doctor, it becomes difficult to treat them. Therefore, religious leaders, social institutions should encourage them to come forward for tests,” Tope said in a statement.

State minorities minister Nawab Malik also participated in the meeting, where he made a similar appeal. Tope said there is a stigma attached to testing positive for coronavirus, which is a barrier for early detection in some areas of the state.

Meanwhile, more than three lakh migrant labourers from Konkan division alone returned to their home states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, etc. by Shramik trains. Konkan division includes Thane, Mumbai, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg and Palghar districts.