Maharashtra sees 3,970 fresh Covid-19 cases, tally rises to 1,892,707

The area under jurisdiction of Pune district contributes the highest number of active cases in the state at 17,213, followed by Thane district at 10,599, then Mumbai, at 7,725, and Nagpur district at 4,376 active infections

Maharashtra on Saturday recorded 3,970 new Covid-19 cases and 74 deaths, taking the tally to 1,892,707, and toll to 48,648. The case fatality rate (CFR) in the state is 2.57%. A total of 1,781,841 patients have recovered so far, of which, 3,119 patients recovered on Saturday. The recovery rate in the state is 94.14%. Maharashtra presently has 61,095 active Covid-19 cases. Of the 74 deaths, 33 were in the past 48 hours, 15 were in the past week and 26 were in the period before last week.

Passengers get screened, tested at Dadar station. (Pratik Chorge/HT)

According to the daily analysis of Covid-19 cases by Maharashtra’s Medical Education and Drugs Department as of Saturday morning 10 am, the state has the highest number of cumulative Covid-19 cases in the country.

So far, Maharashtra has conducted 12,059,235 Covid tests, of which 62,611 were in the past 24 hours. The positivity rate in the state is 15.69%. Positivity rate is calculated as the number of cases corresponding to the tests done so far.

The area under jurisdiction of Pune district contributes the highest number of active cases in the state at 17,213, followed by Thane district at 10,599, then Mumbai, at 7,725, and Nagpur district at 4,376 active infections.

Dr Shashank Joshi, a member of the Covid task force formed by the Maharashtra government, told HT earlier this week, “There are some characteristics peculiar to Maharashtra that led to a higher number of cases and deaths in the state. These is high population density in urban parts of the state such as Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, higher mobility, and greater instances of comorbidities in the population such as hypertension, diabetes, due to lifestyles. Having said this, Maharashtra has managed to bring down its CFR, and growth rate of cases in the state. We have also not seen the surge we expected post Diwali, which is a good sign.”

While on December 1, Maharashtra reported 4,930 fresh cases, on December 2 it reported 5,600 cases. One week later, on December 7, Maharashtra reported 3,075cases, on December 8, it reported 4,026 cases. By mid- December, on December 15, Maharashtra reported 3,442 cases.

Dr Pradeep Awate, state surveillance office,r said, “The figures showED that the situation in the state is improving. Despite this, we have kept up efforts such as actively testing maximum number of suspected cases, identifying ‘super-spreaders’ among frontliners, traders, vendors, who work closely with the community, to check the spread of the infection.”

When asked about Maharashtra having the highest number of cases in the country, Dr Awate said, “Maharashtra had a large number of cases in the beginning of the outbreak, so we are carrying that baggage forward, when being compared to other states. However, it is not just with Covid-19 infection numbers, but also swine flu, dengue numbers in the past decade, Maharashtra has had higher cases. This is because the state has sharp surveillance, and we are very alert. We also do not hide any numbers or facts.”

Mumbai on Saturday recorded 632 infections and 10 deaths, taking the tally to 286,264 and toll to 10,980. Among the municipal corporations around Mumbai, Thane Municipal Corporation recorded 109 cases and 2 deaths on Saturday, taking the total number of cases to 54,951, and toll to 1,195; Navi Mumbai recorded 88 cases and 2 deaths, taking the tally to 52,396 and toll to 1,059; Kalyan-Dombivili Municipal Corporation (KDMC) recorded 113 cases and one death, taking the tally to 59,516 and toll to 979; Mira-Bhayander Municipal Corporation recorded 47 new cases and no new deaths, taking the tally to 26,352 and toll to 638; Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation recorded 26 new cases and no new deaths, taking the tally to 30,044 and toll is at 587.

Pune Municipal Corporation on Saturday recorded 172 cases and 3 deaths, taking the tally to 86,154 and toll to 2,039. Nagpur Municipal Corporation recorded 344 new cases on Saturday, and one new death due to Covid-19, taking the tally to 108,019 and toll to 2,476