Maharashtra reports over 1,000 coronavirus cases for 6th day in a row

In Mumbai, the worst-hit city in the country, the case count crossed 14,000 as 782 cases were registered in a day, the second-highest single-day figure so far.

Maharashtra recorded 1,230 Covid-19 cases on Monday, the sixth day in a row a four-digit increase in infections has been reported, taking the tally to 23,401. The state has crossed the 23,000 mark 11 days after it went past the 10,000 mark on April 30.

Villager from various parts of Maharashtra working in Mumbai gather outside State Transport Depot during the Covid-19 pandemic at in Mumbai. (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT Photo)

The death toll in the state reached 868 with 36 fatalities recorded on Monday. Of them, 20 are in Mumbai, five in Solapur, three in Pune, two in Thane and one each in Ratnagiri, Amravati, Nanded, Aurangabad and Wardha. One patient from Uttar Pradesh died in the city on Monday.

In Mumbai, the worst-hit city in the country, the case count crossed 14,000 as 782 cases were registered in a day, the second-highest single-day figure so far. The city’s case count is now 14,521. On Sunday, 875 cases were recorded. The death toll of Mumbai is 528.

Between April 19 and 30, the state was getting around 500 new cases daily, but from May 1, the figures started showing a significant rise. In the past 11 days, the state has reported as many as 12,903 cases, whereas the total number of cases registered in April was 10,201.

The state reported 1,233 infections on May 6, 1,216 on May 7, 1,089 on May 8, 1,165 on May 9 and 1,278 on May 10. Besides, on May 10, the state also declared an additional 665 cases, saying that they were registered in the past few days and are being declared as per the Central government’s directive to bring the data at par with the national figures on the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) website.

The officials indicated a further rise in cases and said that curve will flatten only after May 17, when the state will complete its fourth incubation period. They are expecting a decline in cases from this month-end.

Dr Tatyarao Lahane, director, Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER), said, “The containment areas have a huge population and are likely to affect a large number of people for various reasons. So the number of new cases is likely to increase for a few more days till May 17. After this, the curve will flatten as by then we will be completing the fourth incubation period and the number of fresh cases will start coming down by this month-end.”

“By next month, we are expecting that things will be completely under control,” he added.

The first case in the state was detected on March 9 and it took 30 days for the state to cross the 1,000 mark.

So far, 15,192 people have been kept in institutional quarantine in the state and over 2,48,301 people have been put under home quarantine.

On Monday, the state also completed 49 days of lockdown that was imposed from the midnight of March 23, a day before the nationwide lockdown imposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It was partially lifted on April 20 in areas where there are no cases or are minimal in number.

On Monday, the health department said it has conducted 2,18,914 tests at various public and private facilities across Maharashtra. Of them, 1,93,457 people tested negative.

This is 19,852 less than what was declared on Sunday when the state declared to have tested 2,38,766 samples. It has clarified that they have declared figures, following the ICMR website.

“Today, the state government has quoted sample-testing figures posted on ICMR’s portal, which is the reason there is disparity in figures compared to Sunday. It may have happened that many laboratories have not updated their figures on the ICMR website. We will ask them to do so that the difference in the number of sample testings will be removed,” said Dr Archana Patil, director, directorate of state health services.

State currently has 1,256 active containment zones. Around 12,027 survey teams comprising doctors and assisting staff have screened more than 53.71 lakh people.

Meanwhile, 4,786 patients have recovered across the state, with 587 recovering on Monday.

The doubling rate in the state now stands at 10 days. The state government has decided to take the rate to 20 days in the days to come, said the health minister Rajesh Tope. The state government had also resolved to bring the entire state into the green zone by this month-end.

The state government has recently changed the top brass of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) as the situation in Mumbai has gone bad. It transferred Praveen Pardeshi and appointed IS Chahal as new BMC commissioner. The government has also appointed Sanjeev Jaiswal and Ashwini Bhide as additional municipal commissioners, replacing AB Jarhad and Jayshree Bhoj.

As of now, Gadchiroli is the only district out of Maharashtra’s 36 that does not have a single case, after a case and a death was recorded in Wardha district on Monday.