Maharashtra’s cumulative COVID-19 case tally breached the 50,000 mark on Sunday, with the State reporting a massive surge of 3,041 cases — its highest till date — to touch 50,231, while 58 more deaths saw the total death toll surge to 1,635.

Of the cumulative cases, 33, 988 are currently active, with as many as 1,196 patients being discharged today to take the total discharged after effecting full recovery to 14, 600, said State Health Department officials.

Also read: Coronavirus | Maharashtra pushes India tally

Having crossed the cumulative tally mark of 40,000 total cases on May 21, it took the State barely 72 hours to breach the 50,000 cases number.

The State’s cumulative cases and death toll are the highest in the country, with its share of total cases accounting for more than 30% of the country’s total number of cases, and its fatalities accounting for more than 40% of India’s COVID-19 deaths.

Of the new cases reported today, Mumbai city recorded a staggering 1,725 of them, to breach the 30,000-case mark as its total case tally soared to 30,251.

On May 17, Maharashtra reported its erstwhile highest single-day case rise of 2,347 cases. Since then, it has reported six consecutive 2,000-cases-a-day surges, now superseded by today’s spike.

According to available data, 39 of the fatalities today were reported from Mumbai city as the city’s death toll shot to 988, while six deaths each were reported from Pune and Solapur districts. Four other fatalities were reported from Aurangabad, among other parts of the State.

While Pune’s death toll, as per State Health Department figures, has risen to 263, Pune district authorities said that the figure had risen to 267.

The death toll for Solapur, another hotspot in the Pune division, has now risen to 41, despite Pune divisional authorities stating that the actual toll had risen to 46.

The death toll in Aurangabad — a virus hotbed in the State’s Marathwada region — has now climbed to 46, as the district reported at least 60 new cases to take its total case tally to 1,246.

“67% of the deaths reported today had high-risk co-morbidities such as diabetes, hypertension, asthma and heart disease,” said State Surveillance Officer, Dr. Pradeep Awate.

Pune district’s case tally, as per State Health Department figures, has risen to 5,682, with the district reporting a spike of more than 230 new cases today. Of these, a little more than 2,480 cases are active.

Despite optimism on part of Pune civic body officials on the healthy recovery rate among patients in Pune city, a worrying factor has been the sudden rise in more than 70 new cases in Pimpri-Chinchwad over the last 48 hours.

The township, until now, had successfully managed to check the spread of the contagion. The new cases including a doctor, a nurse as well as another policeman, taking the tally of policemen infected in Pimpri-Chinchwad alone to more than 10 cases.

“The number of cases in Pimpri-Chinchwad’s Anandnagar area has risen very fast. This is mainly after a vendor involved in the illicit liquor trade had contracted the virus as he had ventured into Pune’s highly-infected Yerwada area. He has, in turn, infected several other people who mostly reside in nearby slums,” said Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) Commissioner Shravan Hardikar, speaking to The Hindu.

Besides Mumbai, Thane in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) reported a huge surge of 211 new cases as the district’s tally soared to 3,010, while Navi Mumbai reported a similarly big spike of 129 new cases as its total tally reached 2,007 cases.

Till date, 3,62,862 samples have been tested in Maharashtra of which 3,12,631 (nearly 90%) have returned negative while 50,231 have tested positive.

Dr. Awate further said that there are 2,283 active containment zones in the State currently.

“Presently, 4,99,387 people across the State were in home quarantine and 35,107 persons were in institutional quarantine facilities,” he said.