An artist arranges idols of Lord Ganesh inside a tempo van for display and sale in Pune on Sunday.
Maharashtra Mumbai Coronavirus News Live Updates: The death toll in Mumbai inched closer towards the 5,000 mark after the total rose to 4,899 on Sunday. Over 80 per cent fatalities due to Covid-19 have been recorded among patients above 50 years, an analysis of data released by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation shows. While Mumbai’s mortality rate is currently six per cent, the average death rate among patients above 50 years is 15 per cent, it has found.
While the statewide count stood at 2.06 lakh, as many as 84,524 have been infected in the city. Overall, the city accounts for 41 per cent of the state’s Covid-19 load.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said that a decision on reopening hotels and restaurants will be taken soon after finalising a standard operating procedure (SOP) to be followed by the industry. “There are no hurdles in reopening hotels but they will have to adhere to the SOP formulated by the state government. The SOP is being prepared and will be finalised soon. Then, the decision on reopening hotels and restaurants can be taken,” he said.
The dry fish market in Nehru chowk, Shukrawar Peth in Pune, reopened for business on Sunday.
Health Minister Rajesh Tope today said: "Mask and sanitiser are essential items. Nobody should sell these items at inflated rates. In the coming days, the need for these items will increase. We have asked the Chief Minister and Food and Drug Administration to look into it. In the next eight days, we will introduce a price cap for the two items."
The district collectorate on Sunday said hoteliers whose properties have been temporarily acquired to house healthcare staff or quarantine Covid-19 patients will be paid rent as per government rates. The Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporations, however, said no rent will be paid for college buildings, marriage halls and other private buildings acquired by them. Private owners whose properties have been acquired had approached civic officials and the collectorate, seeking rent and maintenance expenses. “We have paid rent to some hoteliers for allocating rooms. Some rooms were for housing doctors and nurses and some for quarantine purpose,” said District Collector Naval Kishore Ram.
Despite a large number of migrants returning from metro cities since March, the number of Covid-19 cases in several districts of Marathwada has remained comparatively lower than other parts of the state. This also meant that residents of towns and villages in the hinterland had an easier life owing to a few restrictions on their movement and functioning of markets. However, since last one week, there has been a surge in Covid-19 cases in almost all districts in the region. Various district administrations have imposed blanket curfews, at a time when cities and towns with much larger case counts are opening up. As reported by The Indian Express earlier, over a million migrants have returned to Marathwada between March and June. Barring Aurangabad, which is among the worst affected districts with 6,568 cases (294 deaths), no other district in Marathwada has gone past the three-digit mark. So far, Parbhani has recorded 142 cases (four deaths), Beed 142 (three deaths), Nanded 394 (14 deaths), Latur 425 (22 deaths), Osmanabad 264 (12 deaths), Jalna 719 (24) and Hingoli 288 cases (1 death).
Maharashtra citizens returning to Karnataka will no longer be kept in institutional quarantine. They will be kept in home quarantine for 14 days, similar to those returning from other states.
Former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis is addressing the media on the coronavirus situation.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray today expressed concern over several industries sacking workers at a time when the government is allowing resumption of business activities in the state, and said it was not right, PTI reported. Thackeray made the remarks as he launched the state government's MahaJobs portal that aims to make available job opportunities to the 'sons of the soil' or domiciled persons. The chief minister observed that migrant workers, who went to their native states due to the lockdown, have started coming back to Maharashtra slowly after his government allowed resumption of business activities. "Today, we have jobs available, but there are no workers. Though this is the factual position, I noticed a strange scenario yesterday. Several industries have started slashing salaries of workers or are sacking them," he said. "The sons of the soil or the migrant workers, who had not returned to their states and were reporting at workplaces, are being sacked. This is not right," Thackeray said.
At a Covid Care Centre set up by the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), patients have complained about lack of basic amenities and demanded that they either be shifted to “appropriate centres” or sent home for isolation. About a fortnight ago, PCMC set up the Covid Care Centre at Tathawade after taking temporary possession of a college in the area. Patients who have tested positive but are asymptomatic are quarantined at the centre. As of Sunday, there were around 170 patients at the centre. All of them are housed on the third and fourth floors. But the patients have complained to the authorities about lack of blankets, milk for children, tea and inadequate number of washrooms and bathrooms.
From Monday, coronavirus task force will be formed in all districts. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has directed all districts to form the force to tackle the growing numbers and reduce the mortality rate.
The number of COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra's Thane district has gone up to 42,420 after 1,878 more people tested positive for the disease, officials said on Monday. Thane city accounts for over 25 per cent of the total cases in the district, as per an analysis of the data. On Sunday, 1,878 people tested positive for coronavirus, taking the count of cases to 42,420, the district administration said in a medical bulletin. Out of the fresh cases, Kalyan-Dombivali reported the maximum 482 cases, followed by Thane city-373, Mira Bhayandar-303, Ulhasnagar-251 and Navi Mumbai-191. The remaining cases were reported from other civic limits in the district. Besides, 47 patients succumbed to the disease in the district on Sunday, raising the toll to 1,268. Out of the 47 deaths, 16 were reported from Thane city, as per the medical bulletin.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said that a decision on reopening hotels and restaurants will be taken soon after finalising a standard operating procedure (SOP) to be followed by the industry. Interacting with representatives of associations of hotel managements through video conference, Uddhav said: “There are no hurdles in reopening hotels but they will have to adhere to the SOP formulated by the state government. The SOP is being prepared and will be finalised soon. Then, the decision on reopening hotels and restaurants can be taken.” Reopening of hotels and restaurants needs to be done carefully with focus on health and safety measures, he added. The CM further appealed to the managements of the hotels not to sack any employees.
High Flow Nasal Cannula (HFNC) may help in managing some less critical Covid-19 patients without the need to put them on ventilator support. This technique involves providing high pressure humidified and warm oxygen to patient through nose to allow self-breathing. The technique works best in patients with oxygen saturation levels between 85 to 90 to prevent the need for invasive and non-invasive ventilator. The technique is popularly called ‘Airvo’, named by its manufacturer. Dr Samrat Shah, consultant intensivist in Bhatia hospital, has used this machine on more than Covid-19 15 patients. The hospital had procured three machines — worth Rs 3.5 lakh each — in the last two months for Covid-19 patients.
A 30-year-old man was allegedly abducted and tortured by three men, including his employer, in Kothrud here in Maharashtra over a financial dispute regarding the victim’s stay in Delhi on the company’s money during the lockdown, police said on Sunday. Though the alleged incident occurred on June 13 and June 14 at the firm’s office, an FIR was lodged only on July 2 with Paud police station, an official said. “They took him to the firm’s office where he was confined. The owner and two others thrashed him and sprayed sanitiser on his private parts,” an official said.
Over 80 per cent fatalities due to Covid-19 have been recorded among patients above 50 years, an analysis of data released by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation shows. While Mumbai’s mortality rate is currently six per cent, the average death rate among patients above 50 years is 15 per cent, it has found. According to the civic body’s war room dashboard, there were a total of 76,822 infection cases on July 1, of which 33,190 patients or 43.17 per cent were above 50 years. Of the total infected, 56.82 per cent are those who are up to 50 years old. The fatality rate among Covid-19 patients who are over 50 is, however, substantially higher. Of the total 4,625 deaths recorded in Mumbai till July 1, at least 3,705 fatalities or 80.12 per cent are from this age group. Only 920, or 19.88 per cent, of the total fatalities due to the virus were patients below 50 years. The average death rate among patients above 50 years is 15 per cent, while it is 1.52 per cent among those below 50 years.
From Monday, BMC-run hospitals in Mumbai will start administering Remdesivir drug to moderate and severely-ill patients. Until now, only Seven Hills hospital in the city had got Remdesivir stock on donation. KEM hospital, Sion hospital and Nair hospital, which are treating a huge number of Covid-19 patients, are yet to begin the use of the investigational anti-viral drug. The BMC has purchased 15,000 vials of Remdesivir from Hetero Healthcare at a cost of Rs 4,144 each. Hetero Healthcare, which is selling the drug under brand name Covifor, is one of the five companies that has signed a licensed agreement with Gilead Sciences to manufacture and distribute Remdesivir in India and Pakistan. The market price is Rs 5400, but BMC got the stock at a discounted rate for bulk order.
Maharashtra’s fatality rate stands at 4.2 per cent and recovery rate at 54 per cent. Of the over 11 lakh people tested so far, 18.5 per cent have been found to be infected. Health officials said the high positivity rate is due to targeted testing and slowly rising viral transmission in the community. Mumbai accounts for a higher positivity rate with over 22.5 per cent of those being examined testing positive for Covid-19.
While Thane district in MMR recorded 349 new cases, the figure for Pune district was 882, taking their case load to 11,959 and 22,236, respectively. Along with Mumbai, Thane and Pune districts now account for 57 per cent of the total state load. Across Maharashtra, of the 151 people who succumbed on Sunday, the bulk were from MMR and Pune region. While Mumbai accounted for 69 deaths, 20 died in Pune, eight in Kalyan Dombivali, four each in Thane and Vasai-Virar, three from Bhiwandi Nizampur and one from Mira Bhayander. The remaining deaths were reported from across the state.
Maharashtra on Sunday recorded 6,555 new cases of Covid-19, taking the statewide count to 2.06 lakh. It also reported an overall toll of 8,822, with 151 people succumbing to the virus. Mumbai reported 1,287 fresh cases – 19 per cent of the cases reported on Sunday – taking the number of infected in the city to 84,524. With at least 69 deaths being reported, Mumbai has recorded a toll of 4,899 until Sunday. Follow our live blog for all the latest updates.