A staggering 1,216 new coronavirus (COVID-19) cases were reported from Maharashtra on Thursday as the State breached the 17,000-case mark to reach 17,974. A record single-day surge of 43 fatalities saw the State’s death toll soar to 694.

As per the State Health Department, 26 of the fatalities were from Mumbai city (including that of a Mumbai resident who died in Sindhudurg district in the Konkan, and two other residents each hailing from Bihar and Manipur respectively) to take the city’s death toll to 437 till date, while seven deaths were reported from Pune district to take the cumulative fatalities there to 129.

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Five deaths were reported from Vasai-Virar in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) to take the area’s toll to nine, while two deaths were reported from Solapur district to take its cumulative toll to 10, one from Akola city as the district’s toll surged to 13, while one death each was reported from Palghar and Aurangabad. This was Palghar’s second reported fatality while Aurangabad’s too has now risen to 13.

“About 67% of deaths reported on Thursday had high-risk co-morbidities such as diabetes, hypertension, asthma and heart disease,” said State Surveillance Officer Pradeep Awate. As many as 207 were discharged, taking the cumulative discharged till date to 3,301, said Dr. Awate.

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He said that an analysis of 8,816 patients admitted to different hospitals in the State according to the seriousness of their symptoms revealed that 59% of the total admitted were ‘asymptomatic’, 36% had mild to moderate symptoms and only 5% of the cases were ‘serious’.

Of the 1,216 new cases, Mumbai city reported a staggering 680 of these as the city’s cumulative tally crossed the 11,000-case mark to touch 11,394.

Pune district case tally, as per State health department figures, has risen to 2,129. However, as per figures given by the Pune district administration, the total case tally stands at 2,395 with more than 100 new cases reported across the district on Thursday.

As per district authorities, Pimpri-Chinchwad reported six new cases, taking the total to 151, of which 83 were active cases, 62 had been discharged while six others succumbed to the contagion.

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All six were in the age group of 16 to 30, while three of these were women and one a six-month old baby.

Satara district reported a spike of more than 20 new cases, with Karad reporting most of the 113 cases in the district.

“The situation in Karad is getting grimmer each day. 71 positive cases have been identified till date. The entire municipalities of Karad and Malkapur as well as 13 adjoining villages have been placed in the ‘containment zone’. It has become tough supplying essentials like milk, medicines, groceries and vegetables. Banks and petrol pumps are closed,” said former Chief Minister and Karad South MLA, Prithviraj Chavan.

Solapur district in the Pune division also witnessed a massive spike in cases, with 45 fresh cases taking the district’s tally to 176, while Aurangabad district in Marathwada reported at least 27 new cases as its tally surged to 400.

Other parts of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) reported massive surges as well, with Thane reporting more than 110 new cases to touch 743, while Navi Mumbai reported a huge spike of 140 new cases as its cumulative tally soared to 659 cases.

Thirteen new cases were reported from Akola district to take the district’s cumulative tally to 94. According to authorities, 69 of these are active cases, while 18 persons have been discharged thus far and seven have died.

Till date, 2,02,105 samples have been tested in Maharashtra of which 1,83,880 (nearly 90%) have returned negative while 17,974 have tested positive.

“There are 1,087 active containment zones in the State currently. Presently, 2,12,742 people were in home quarantine and 13,494 persons were in institutional quarantine facilities,” said Dr. Awate.