New COVID-19 fatalities were reported from Aurangabad and Akola districts in Maharashtra on May 10 as the number of positive cases continued to surge in these districts as well as other parts of the State, including Pune and Nagpur.

Aurangabad, which has seen a dramatic rise in cases since the past week, saw its death toll rise to 13 after a 50-year-old man succumbed to the virus during treatment at a local hospital.

At least 38 new cases were reported since the evening of May 9 to take the district’s cumulative case tally to 546, authorities said.

The district, and especially Aurangabad city, has reported a surge of more than 220 new cases over a five-day period.

In Akola district in the Amravati division, a 50-year-old woman, who had tested positive and had been admitted at a local hospital in Akola city on May 7, died during treatment on May 10 morning, taking the district’s death toll to 13.

Six new cases were reported as well to take the cumulative tally to 153. This includes 126 active cases, 13 deaths (including one suicide) and 14 who have been discharged.

Akola has seen a surge of 58 cases in barely 48 hours, said health officials.

34 new cases in Pune

Meanwhile, at least 34 new COVID-19 cases were reported from Pune district since May 9, taking the district’s total tally of cases — including deaths and recoveries — to 2,694, said health officials.

As per figures given by the Pune Zilla Parishad’s Health Department till Saturday evening, there were 1,647 active cases recorded in the district which included 1,439 in Pune city, 85 in Pimpri-Chinchwad, and as many as123 in Pune rural areas.

Sixtyseven of these cases are said to be in a critical condition.

The district’s death toll currently stands at 148, with 133 of these being reported from Pune city, nine from the rural areas and six from Pimpri-Chinchwad.

Health officials said that till May 9 evening, the samples of a total of 22,516 persons had been tested in Pune district of which 18,632 samples had returned negative. A total 2,784 persons were at present kept in quarantine facilities in the district.

Along with Pune’s fatalities, the death toll in Pune division —which includes the districts of Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur and Solapur along with Pune — now stands at 166, with Solapur reporting 14 deaths, Satara district recording two, and Kolhapur and Sangli each had reported one death thus far.

20 new cases in Solapur

Solapur had reported a surge of 20 new cases on May 9 to take the district’s tally to 216, while the reports of a recently deceased 48-year-old woman in the city’s Ashok Nagar area, too, tested positive taking the toll to 14.

The rising cases have prompted officials to divide the city into 41 containment zones.

Satara has recorded a total 118 cases till date, including one from the tourist hill station of Mahabaleshwar, while Sangli and Kolhapur have reported a total 37 and 18 positive cases respectively.

In all, 827 persons from Pune district and a total 912 from Pune division (including Pune district) have been discharged thus far, said Divisional Commissioner Deepak Mhaisekar.

Meanwhile, Jalgaon district in north Maharashtra reported 11 new cases on May 10 to take its tally to 174. Officials said that the new cases were from Amalner, Bhusaval and Pachora areas.

On May 9, Maharashtra had reported a record single-day high of 48 COVID-19 fatalities as its death toll went up to 779, while a surge of 1,165 new cases took the State’s cumulative tally of positive cases to 20,228.