Active Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra drop to 102,099, lowest in state since July 12

The tally of active Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra dropped to 102,099 — lowest in almost four months — on Friday as the number of daily new infections has gradually

The tally of active Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra dropped to 102,099 — lowest in almost four months — on Friday as the number of daily new infections has gradually dropped and recoveries has steadily risen. Before Friday, the state’s lowest active cases count was 103,516 on July 12.

The active cases tally rose to 301,752 on September 17 — highest since the first Covid-19 cases was reported in the state in March — and dropped to 196,288 on October 14, before further dipping in the past three weeks. As of Friday, Pune has highest number of active cases (22,717), followed by Mumbai (16,817) and Thane (15,087).

The state reported 5,027 new cases and 161 deaths on Friday, taking its tally up to 1,710,314 and toll to 44,965. The number of recovered Covid-19 patients rose to 1,562,342 with an addition of 11,060 on Friday, pushing up the state’s recovery rate to 91.35%.

Of the 5,027 cases reported on Friday, Mumbai had the most infections at 792, followed by Pune district at 642, Nashik at 467 and Nagpur at 337. Of the fatalities, 22 were from Mumbai, 17 from Pune, 14 from Solapur and Kalyan-Dombivli reported six deaths. The state’s case fatality rate (CFR) stood at 2.63%.

Meanwhile, the state health department during a presentation before the cabinet on Thursday projected a rise in cases after Diwali.

“Coinciding with a drop in temperature owing to the winter and opening up of more activities in the state there could be a rise in cases. The winter season is expected to witness cold waves in northern parts of the country. It will have an impact in Maharashtra like we witnessed in 2015. Since the virus survives for more time in cold temperature, there could be a spike in cases. Urban areas may see more cases than rural areas because of the density of population,” said an official, on condition of anonymity.

State health minister Rajesh Tope, too, had said on Thursday that the state is prepared to face a surge in cases as they have an adequate number of beds, ventilators, medicines, drugs, and other equipment.

According to data, which were presented before the cabinet, the state’s doubling rate was 217.69 days on November 4 as against 36.31 days on August 31. The weekly average of the growth rate dropped to 0.32% on November 4 from 1.31% on September 30, 3.32% on June 30 and 27.2% on March 31. The weekly CFR, too, dropped to 2.03% during October 28-November 3 period from 2.67% during October 14-20 period. The number of daily tests dropped from 73,317 three weeks ago on October 16 to 64,485 tests on November 4, stated the presentation, adding that the state government reached out to 27,463,793 households of total 27,633,982 families during the ‘My Family, My Responsibility’ drive and it helped trace 51,064 Covid-19 cases.

Dr Pradeep Awate, state surveillance officer, said authorities have been working on two fronts to tackle the potential second wave. “We have been creating awareness among people for the adoption of Covid-appropriate behaviour and at the same time, augmenting our health infrastructure. During the peak time (first two weeks of September), there were more than 3 lakh active patients in the state. We are ramping up infrastructure and logistics for 10% more patients than during the peak period. All district authorities have been given fortnightly projections, asking them to ramp up the infrastructure,” he said.

Awate said the drop in daily testing is owing to decrease in cases of influenza like illness (ILI) and Covid-19 infections and suspected contacts. “The daily tests have dropped to 70,000 from 85,000 few weeks ago. We are still conducting more than 250 tests per million per day against the World Health Organisation’s mandate for 140/mn/day tests. But at the same time, we are targeting the ‘super spreaders’ from whom the possibility of spread of the virus is more. Our drive to trace and track the suspected segments and outreach program My Family, My Responsibility have helped us in covering more than 90% of the population,” he said.