Maharashtra records over 2,000 cases in a day; tally 33,053

The state saw 63 Covid-19 deaths, of which 38 were in Mumbai, nine in Pune, six in Aurangabad, three each in Solapur city and Raigad, one each in Thane rural, Panvel, Latur and Amravati.

In a grim first, Maharashtra on Sunday recorded more than 2,000 Covid-19 cases with 2,347 new infections, taking the tally to 33,053. Sunday’s numbers come more than two months after the state started rolling out restrictions to curb the virus’ spread and on the last day of the third phase of the lockdown.

Hours before the Centre announced it officially on Sunday evening, the Maharashtra government extended the ongoing lockdown by two weeks till May 31. (Pratik Chorge/HT file photo)

The worst-ravaged Indian city, Mumbai, too, registered its highest single-day jump in virus cases with 1,595 new patients, bringing its count past 20,000 to 20,150.

The state saw 63 Covid-19 deaths, of which 38 were in Mumbai, nine in Pune, six in Aurangabad, three each in Solapur city and Raigad, one each in Thane rural, Panvel, Latur and Amravati. Thirty-four of the patients who died on Sunday were above 60 years of age, while 22 were in the age group of 40 to 59 years and the remaining seven were below the age of 40 years. Forty-one of them had high-risk comorbidities, including diabetes, hypertension and heart ailments.

Hours before the Centre announced it officially on Sunday evening, the Maharashtra government extended the ongoing lockdown by two weeks till May 31. The state government is expected to soon issue its own notification, extending some relaxations for commercial-industrial activities and bringing clarity on the delineation of the zones (red, orange and green).

“Although the state government cannot dilute the restrictions imposed by the Centre, it has been given powers to prepare buffer/micro zones. This may increase the number of containment zones, but actual area will decrease, leaving room for activities in the remaining area. Also, the state had not relaxed some restrictions, even though the Centre had allowed them, in the last notification. For instance, the relaxations to allow more employees in government and private offices, or operating non-essential shops in a staggered manner even in red zones, were not implemented in cities like Mumbai, Thane, Pune and Nashik. The state can now go ahead with the opening of few more shops and increasing attendance in offices,” said a senior government official.

The state, in the past two days, allowed manufacturers of umbrella, raincoats and plastic sheets to operate their units and retailers to sell them by putting them in the list of essential services. Similarly, the government has allowed employees of regional transport offices and sub-registrars to be at their workplaces, so at to ensure registration of vehicles and flats.

“The notification issued on Sunday by the Centre will help us restructure containment zones by shrinking them. Commercial and other activities outside containment zones would thus be allowed. This is a very important step towards reviving the economy. At the same time, lockdown restrictions in containment zones will have to be followed strictly,” said public works department minister and former chief minister Ashok Chavan. He said that the nod for public transport between states may come as a respite for migrant workers, who have been risking their lives to reach their home states.

The state saw 10,682 cases in just seven days, while the deaths reported in this period were 366. Of them, in Mumbai, 6,441 cases and 226 deaths were during the past week. The month of May saw 21,616 cases and 739 deaths in Maharashtra, which included 13,119 cases and 444 deaths in Mumbai. This means 31.76% cases and 38.31% deaths in the state have come in the past 17 days. The first case of Covid-19 in the state was on March 9.

After having crossed 25,000 cases on May 13, the next 5,000 in the state were reported in just three days. On May 9, the state tally had touched 20,220. The state took 53 days for its first 10,000 cases.

The number of tests in the state touched 2,73,239 on Sunday. 24,0186 of them were negative, which means 20.48% tested positive.

Maharashtra’s mortality rate has dropped to 3.70% against national rate of 3.16%, while the doubling rate in Maharashtra is little more than 10 days.

A total of 3,48,508 people are currently under home quarantine, while 17,638 are under institutional quarantine. 14,972 teams of health workers have screened 63.83 lakh people for suspected infection, after they came in contact with patients. 7,688 patients, including 600 on Sunday, have fully recovered from various hospitals, after testing positive in the past nine weeks.

The state has 1,688 containment zones. In Mumbai, the municipal corporation has broken the zones into smaller ones for better monitoring.

State health minister Rajesh Tope said that owing to the change in discharge policy by the Centre, the recovery rate among the patients in the state has improved. “Of the 7,688 patients who have been discharged after recovery so far, 50% or 3,700 are in the past one week,” he said.

Chief secretary Ajoy Mehta, who issued orders on Sunday afternoon, using powers conferred under the Disaster Management Act, also had a meeting with the Union cabinet secretary late on Sunday. The state has also clarified that guidelines on relaxations in the ongoing lockdown will be issued in due course.

Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray had hinted at the extension of the lockdown and had also demanded that the Centre allows operations of suburban trains in Mumbai, but only for essential services. The Central notification is, however, silent on the demand.

“Activities in green zones will be fully permitted by keeping district boundaries sealed. It will be applicable to orange zones, excluding containment zones” said an official.