Maharashtra reports under 10,000 Covid cases for fourth day in a row

Maharashtra, for a fourth straight day, reported under 10,000 new Covid-19 infections as 8,142 fresh cases on Wednesday took the tally to 1,617,658. With the addition

Maharashtra, for a fourth straight day, reported under 10,000 new Covid-19 infections as 8,142 fresh cases on Wednesday took the tally to 1,617,658. With the addition of 180 more fatalities, the toll went up to 42,633.

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Mumbai, too, continued with its decline in new cases by clocking 1,609 new infections, taking the tally to 245,869 and toll to 9,912 with 48 more deaths reported on Wednesday.

Of the 180 deaths reported on Wednesday, 91 were from past two days, 37 from past week and remaining 52 were from the period before it, according to the state health department statement.

After Mumbai, the highest number of deaths, 21, were from Pune (3 in city, 9 in rural parts and 8 in Pimpri-Chinchwad), followed by 15 in Nagpur and 9 in Sangli.

Pune clocked 1,406 new infections, including 442 in city, 734 in rural parts and 230 in Pimpri-Chinchwad. Nagpur clocked 447 cases, Nashik 330, while Ahmednagar added 294 new cases. By adding 3,117 new infections, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) retains its top share (38.29%) in the state’s tally.

The state’s recovery rate improved to 87.51% after a whopping 23,371 patients were reported to have recovered in 24 hours, taking the tally of recovered patients to 1,415,679. State has 158,852 active patients, highest being in Pune (30,570) followed by Thane (27,677) and Mumbai (20,216).

State authorities, who have been projecting a spike in cases over the next few weeks in view of the onset of winter coinciding with the festive season and unlocking rolled out, have instructed to aggressively implement its outreach drive. “The first phase of ‘My Family, My Responsibility’ has helped us in bringing awareness among the people over the pandemic protocol and personal hygiene. We have been getting good results and this has helped us in containing the spread. We have details of almost everyone with comorbid conditions. We have directed the district administration to monitor the vulnerable sections of society, so as to treat them early,” said an official from the state health department.

State authorities are wary about the drop in the rate of tests conducted for the detection of the infection. The daily average of the tests in October has dropped to 72,442 from 88,209 tests per day in September. “It is a good sign that even the positivity rate in October has dropped to 15.12%, but it does not mean that the state should decrease tests. We have been insisting on increasing number of tests,” said a member of the state-government appointed task force for the clinical treatment of patients.

Dr Avinash Supe, former KEM dean and member of the expert committee appointed by the state to recommend steps to curb the spread, said, “If the people take due precautions related to personal hygiene and follow the protocol, the surge may not be as high as we witnessed in September. With almost everything having been opened up, 70% of the population has not been exposed even today. So if we follow the protocol, I think we will continue with the plateau till January and by February onwards they will drop further to the baseline of the curve.”

76, 259 tests were conducted in the state in the last 24 hours at a positivity rate of 10.67%. State has 24,47,292 people in home quarantine, while 23,312 are institutionally quarantined.