Akola reported its first COVID-19 death on Wednesday after the throat swab sample results of a recently deceased 45-year-old man with comorbidities returned positive.

Speaking to The Hindu, Sanjay Khadse, Resident Deputy Collector, Akola, said that the man, who was suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure, was admitted to the district civil hospital and died on April 13 during treatment.

As of now, Akola has 12 positive cases, Mr. Khadse said. On April 12, a 30-year-old COVID-19 positive patient, who was a migrant from Assam, had committed suicide by slitting his throat at Akola’s government medical college and hospital (GCMH).

This is the third COVID-19 death to occur in Amravati, with Buldhana and Amravati districts earlier reporting a death each.

On Tuesday, Maharashtra’s cumulative tally reached a staggering 2684 cases and 178 deaths, with the State recording more than 700 new cases and nearly 30 deaths over a 72-hour span.

Akola and Buldhana districts are fast emerging as the virus hotspots in the Amravati division, which has till date reported 45 positive cases.

As many as 33 of these are from these two districts. While Buldhana had already reported a COVID-19 death and a few positive cases, the numbers in both these districts have surged, since some persons who participated in the Nizamuddin Tablighi Jamaat conclave tested positive.

At least six persons from Buldhana – which has reported 21 cases till now – had attended the Jamaat’s congregation in Delhi last month.

“Most of the 12 cases in Akola are either those who attended the Tablighi Jamaat event or people who came in contact with them. The process of contact tracing is still on. We have already sealed off four areas in the district,” said Mr. Khadse.

Meanwhile, Kolhapur district in western Maharashtra reported another positive case, taking the district’s tally to seven.

District Health Officer (DHO) Yogesh Sale said that the latest case was a 24-year-old youth from the district’s Shahuwadi tehsil who was a cousin of another youth who had apparently returned from the Nizamuddin conclave and had earlier tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Police stop migrants

Around 150 migrant workers, including women and children, who had set off on foot from Pune city’s Katraj area for Madhya Pradesh amid the lockdown, were halted by the police on Wednesday, said authorities.

The labourers, who were finding it tough without any work during the lockdown, were desperate to return home. “Our police patrol team spotted a group of 150 people walking in the city in the wee hours. We learnt they were labourers who wanted to return to their homes as they did not have any money to pay their rent or buy food in this lockdown,” said an official from Kondhwa police station.

The official said while the workers were taken to a designated shelter in Kondhwa, most of them returned to their rented accommodations after some time.