Maha sees sharpest 1-day spike of 3,752 Covid cases

Maharashtra on Thursday recorded 3,752 Covid-19 cases, its highest single-day jump, taking the tally to 1,20,504, including 62,875 in Mumbai.

Maharashtra on Thursday recorded 3,752 Covid-19 cases, its highest single-day jump, taking the tally to 1,20,504, including 62,875 in Mumbai.

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With the addition of 100 deaths, the state toll has reached 5,751, including 3,311 fatalities in Mumbai.

Of the 100 deaths reported on Thursday, 99 are from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), including 67 in Mumbai, 27 Bhiwandi and four in Thane. One death each was registered in Vasai-Virar and Nagpur city.

Maharashtra saw more than 2,000 Covid-19 cases a day for the past 31 days, accounting for 70.91% of its total, as state authorities and experts attribute the rise to the easing of lockdown restrictions.

A total of 75,108 cases or 65.44% of the state’s tally have been reported after most areas were exempted from lockdown curbs from May 22.

Under its Mission Begin Again — a staggered plan to lift curbs — the state government started to roll out major relaxations, even in red zones. After allowing physical activities such as running, jogging and cycling from June 3, shops and commercial establishments were allowed to be open on alternate days from June 5.

From June 8, private offices opened with 10% (or 10 persons, whichever is greater) of the capacity. The two weeks of unlocking have seen 48,204 cases.

Before these relaxations, the state had exempted major part of its population from red-zone restrictions from May 22. From 14 districts with a population of 6.56 crore, the restrictions were lowered to just 3.15 crore in 19 municipal corporations covering only urban parts.

The state’s projection of the case curve reaching a plateau and then flattening has failed time and again with the authorities now expecting the middle of monsoon to see the beginning of a downward trend. “The surge in cases after the relaxations of lockdown curbs was expected and we were prepared for it. Although the number of cases is rising across the state, we have been able to keep the containment well below various projections for Mumbai and even for the state. Our projections related to the plateau and flattening of the curve have not been met. We have been able to stabilise the curve in Mumbai and other cities with high infection, but it spread rapidly in a few other districts of the state,” said a state official, who is privy to the brainstorming and strategies chalked out combat the virus.

After a sudden jump of 1,328 fatalities, as a result of reconciliation of data on Tuesday, the state case fatality rate has risen to 4.77%, much above the national rate. The state government, however, said that its recovery rate improved to 50.49% after 60,838 patients recovered. The state health department has also said that the doubling rate of cases has improved to 25.9 days on June 16, from 3.5 days on March 31 and 10.2 days on April 30 and 20.1 days on May 31. The weekly growth rate of cases has been 3% on June 16, from 12%, 7% and 4% on March 31, April 30 and May 31 respectively.

State has so far conducted 717, 683 tests with a positivity rate of 16.93%. State has 101 testing laboratories, including 43 from private sector. 5,81,650 people are home quarantine in the state.

State authorities are wary of a rise in cases in the next two-three weeks owing to monsoon- related ailments and increased risk of infection. “We have been concentrating on new hotspots that have come up elsewhere in the state. Tracing , testing and treatment have been the key formula to contain the spread of the virus. It is being implemented in these districts too. The figures in Mumbai have been stabilised and we now expect to reach the plateau at the state level by mid-July, ” said state surveillance officer Dr Pradeep Awate.

Dr Sanjay Pattiwar, public health consultant, said that the opening up of activities has led to a rise in cases and striking a balance between the lockdown and unlocking was inevitable. “The rise after the restarting of activities was expected, but it is now for people to understand how to live with the virus without getting infected. People have been following the norms of social distancing and physical contacts; it should be rigorously followed even in future. With the density of population in India, we need to take extra precautions than any other country,” he said.

Mumbai accounted for 63.73% of the daily state cases on May 14, 56.47% on May 28, which dropped to 41.1% on June 17. However, a few districts such as Aurangabad, Jalagaon and Solapur saw a surge in cases and even in the case fatality rate (CFR).

Against the state’s mortality rate of 4.84%, Solapur, Jalgaon and Aurangabad have reported 9.25%, 10.12% and 5.68% respectively, as per the deaths recorded till Wednesday. The recovery rate in these districts was 35.28%, 45.45% and 55.88%, against the state rate of 50.68% till Monday evening.

Bhushan Gagarani, principal secretary, state government, said the districts with high fatality rate have been asked to do better case management. “One of the reasons for the high mortality rate in Solapur is the high number of beedi workers who suffer from lung ailments. In Jalgaon, we have issues with health infrastructure. These districts have been asked for better case management to reduce the fatality rate,” he said.

Jalgaon collector Avinash Dhakne, who was transferred on Thursday, said that the death rate in the district was high because of fewer tests in the district. “While the state rate of tests is 4,800 per million, it is just 2,000 per million in Jalgaon. We have no facility for testing, which forced us to send our samples to private labs. We conducted more than 50 lakh tests in private laboratories. We have changed our strategy and started focusing on the vulnerable groups of citizens, especially in densely populated areas,” he said. Dhakne said that even the surveys conducted by ICMR have found the fatality rate was not too high, compared to the population of the district. He also added that the spread of the virus was owing to people coming in from other cities like Mumbai, Pune and due to the high footfall of migrant workers.