Coronavirus update: Maharashtra’s Covid-19 tally reaches 3236, death toll is 194

Covid-19 update: Mumbai, the most affected city in the with more than 2000 infected people, had six Covid-19 cases and Pune had the most at 23, Malegaon (Nashik) four and Thane one, according to the officials.

Maharastra recorded 34 new cases of the coronavirus disease since Thursday night and the tally of infected people went up to 3236 and 194 deaths, state health officials said on Friday afternoon.

A pedestrians wearing a protective mask walks past the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) train station in Mumbai, India, on Saturday, March 21, 2020. Authorities ordered all non-essential businesses in Mumbai and across the broader state to shut from midnight through the end of March to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg (Bloomberg)

They said Mumbai, the most affected city in the with more than 2000 infected people, had six Covid-19 cases and Pune had the most at 23, Malegaon (Nashik) four and Thane one.

Maharashtra had recorded 286 new cases, including seven deaths, to become the first state to cross 3000 Covid-19 cases on Thursday.

In Dharavi, the number of Covid-19 cases has tripled in the past five days, from 28 on April 11 to 86 on April 16, and the death toll during the same period has also increased from four to nine, data from the state health department showed.

Asia’s largest slum cluster saw its highest spike in the number of coronavirus-positive patients, with 26 new cases on Thursday. A 58-year-old man from Laxmi Chawl, who had tested positive last week, also died on Thursday.

Rajesh Tope, the state’s health minister, said on Friday said that about 51,000 samples have been tested for coronavirus in the state till now.

“Of 51,000 samples, over 24,000 samples have been tested for coronavirus in Mumbai,” Tope said.

He said the state has 30 Covid-19 testing laboratories in the state, including 15 government and 15 private.

“Soon, six more testing labs will be added in our list. We are increasing our capacity of labs so that the time-lapse between sample collection and test result can be minimised and better treatment is given to the infected patients as soon as possible,” he added.

The health minister said the state government has sought permission for pool testing from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

“After rapid testing, we have now sought permission for conducting pool testing from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR),” he said adding this will help the government to cover more people in less period of time.

The state has already sought permission from the central government for starting clinical trials of plasma therapy and BCG (Bacillus Calmette-Guérin) vaccine given to newborns and children to prevent childhood tuberculosis for treatment of Covid-19 patients.

The state government has also started planning to relax lockdown restrictions from next week. The relaxation will, however, be in the non-affected areas and limited only to the essential services, industries and agriculture sectors by strict following of the lockdown norms.

Tope clarified that no public gathering will be allowed nor will educational institutions, such as school and colleges, be allowed to function.

According to the Union ministry of health, India’s count of coronavirus disease cases reached 13,387 on Friday.