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Maharashtra reports 2,949 new Covid-19 infections, tally rises to 1,883,365
After 24 days, Maharashtra reported fewer than 3,000 fresh Covid-19 cases in a day with 2,949 new infections taking the tally to 1,883,365 on Monday
After 24 days, Maharashtra reported fewer than 3,000 fresh Covid-19 cases in a day with 2,949 new infections taking the tally to 1,883,365 on Monday. The lower numbers are, however, attributed to fewer tests. In the past 24 hours, 45,905 samples were tested, while the average of the past seven days was 53,041.
State health department officials, meanwhile, said infection rate was on the decline and that herd immunity could be playing a major role in the drop in number of infections.
Maharashtra also added 60 fatalities on Monday to take the toll to 48,269. Of the fatalities reported on Monday, 27 occurred in the past 48 hours and eight were in the past week. The remaining 25 deaths were from the period before last week. The case fatality rate (CFR) remained constant at 2.56%.
Mumbai, meanwhile, reported 477 fresh infections to take its tally to 291,113. It also reported fatalities in single digits with seven deaths, pushing the toll to 10,984.
Health department officials said the rate of infection was under control as the positivity rate, a key parameter to see how rapidly the infection is spreading, is around 7%. The state has witnessed a dip in the overall positivity rate in the state over from nearly 20% in October to nearly 16% in December. On October 13, the overall positivity rate was 19.89%, which dropped to 17.9% on November 13. The overall positivity rate on Monday stood at 16.03%.
A state health department official said the infection spread was seeing a dip, which is why the positivity rate was going down gradually. “If one looks at the positivity rate of just one month, between November 14 and December 14, it shows a substantial decline in positivity rate. The positivity rate in this period was 7.05%, lower than the overall positivity rate. A significant percentage of the population could have developed antibodies, which is a reason for lower infection rates now. We are happy that the numbers are showing a dip, but the administration remains on guard,” he said, requesting anonymity. State surveillance officer, Dr Pradeep Awate said, “The declining trend is continuing, which is a relieving part. The rate of infection is decreasing and herd immunity could be playing a major role in it.”
Dr Subhash Salunkhe, chairman of communicable diseases prevention control and member of the state-appointed technical committee, echoed Awate’s view on herd immunity and said, “The Serosurveys that have been carried out in Mumbai and Pune are indicators that congested areas that saw many cases are now seeing fewer cases. Indications are that a herd immunity-like situation is occurring in the state. There are a lot of people who were affected, but might not be detected. However, we are still seeing cases coming out, so the viral activity has not stopped.”
After a brief upswing in active cases, they have dipped marginally in the state. The active cases in the state had seen a slight increase between December 10 and 13. The state’s active caseload had gone to 74,104 on Sunday after it had dropped to 71,910 on December 10. Mumbai, too, had seen a rise in active caseload, which reached 13,112 on Sunday, a jump from 11,886 on December 10. The active caseload in the state, however, dipped on Monday to 72,383, owing to more discharges recorded on Monday. Mumbai now has 13,582 active cases. State authorities have attributed the increase in active cases to a delay in logging in discharges.
In the last 24 hours, 4,160 patients were discharged, which took the tally of recovered patients to 17,61,615. The state’s overall recovery rate stood at 93.54%. The state has so far tested 11,748,362 samples and has an overall positivity rate of 16.03%. Currently, 504,406 people are in home quarantine and 4,335 people are in institutional quarantine.
