The corridors of a Covid-19 critical ward at Kasturba Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Mumbai on July 15, 2020. (Express Photo: Amit Chakravarty)
Maharashtra, Mumbai, Pune Coronavirus News Live Updates: Maharashtra on Thursday recorded 8,641 Covid-19 cases – the highest ever in a single day since the state recorded its first case on March 9. With this, the total count of those infected in the state has reached 2,84,281. The state recorded 266 new deaths – the highest so far in a single day this month – taking the overall toll to 11,194.
Mumbai, meanwhile, recorded 1,476 cases, taking its total count to 97,950. With 56 new deaths, 5,523 people in the city have died due to the virus till now.
The death rate due to Covid-19 in Maharashtra dropped to less than 4 per cent for the first time in two months. A week ago, the death rate was 4.22 per cent, and a week before it was 4.47 per cent. Mumbai’s death rate is at 5.6 per cent; higher than the state’s average.
Senior BJP leader Narayan Rane on Thursday alleged that Uddhav Thackeray has not been stepping out of his residence and that he has lost control of the administration, resulting in the Covid-19 pandemic getting out of control in Maharashtra.
In other news, former chief minister and senior Congress leader from Maharashtra Shivajirao Patil Nilangekar, 91, and poet-activist Varavara Rao have tested positive for the virus. Also, former IAS officer Neela Satyanarayan, who had served as Maharashtra’s first woman Election Commissioner, succumbed to Covid-19 at a suburban hospital on Thursday.
Municipal workers stand on a waterlogged street to keep commuters away from manholes, at Sion in Mumbai. (PTI Photo)
FIVE undertrial prisoners lodged on the premises of a government hostel at Yerawada, designated a temporary prison during the Covid-19 pandemic, escaped in the early hours of Thursday by breaking the window grill of their room. This is the third incident in over a month in which inmates have fled from the temporary prison. read more
Alleging that Uddhav Thackeray has not been stepping out of his residence, senior BJP leader Narayan Rane on Thursday said the chief minister has lost control of the administration, resulting in the Covid-19 pandemic getting out of control in Maharashtra.
Addressing mediapersons, he said: “Thackeray has stopped stepping out of home. Therefore, he is not aware of the ground reality… When the head of the state has stopped coming to Mantralaya, it is bound to have an adverse impact on the employees and the administration.” “Ideally, we should have a CM lifting the moral of people. But he has restricted himself to video conferences,” said Rane, adding that Opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis, meanwhile, has toured the entire state to access the ground situation.
The total number of coronavirus cases in India crossed the grim milestone of one million to stand at 1,003,832 on Friday, after nearly 35,000 cases were registered within a span of 24 hours. As many as 25,602 deaths were recorded, according to data released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. It took less than three weeks for the cases to go from half a million to one million. In contrast, it had taken nearly four months for India to reach the first half a million cases.
After the US, which has carried out a record 42 million COVID-19 tests, India has done the second largest number of 12 million coronavirus tests, the White House has said.
More than 3.5 million people have tested positive with the coronavirus and 138,000 died in the US. Globally, more than 13.6 million have tested positive and over 586,000 have died.
“With regard to (the coronavirus) testing, we’ve done more than 42 million tests. The second-highest number is 12 million from India. We’re leading the world in testing,” White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters at a news conference here on Thursday.
Each year about 25,000-30,000 nurses graduate after completing various courses in Maharashtra, yet the state is reeling under a shortage of nursing staff and forced to rely on nurses from Kerala as well as specialised doctors to fight the Covid-19 battle.
State heath officials they have received no response to several advertisements for nurses, while nursing associations have told The Indian Express there are hundreds of trained nurses in Maharashtra waiting for a job but have got no intimation from the government. Apart from what appears to be a communication gap between the associations and the government, many nurses are also unwilling to work because of the fear of Covid-19, the perception that hospitals do not provide adequate personal protection equipment, poor salaries and lack of job security.
Maharashtra on Thursday recorded 8,641 Covid-19 cases– the highest ever in a single day since the state recorded its first case on March 9. With this, the total count of those infected in the state has reached 2,84,281. The state recorded 266 new deaths – the highest so far in a single day this month – taking the overall toll to 11,194. Mumbai, meanwhile, recorded 1,476 cases, taking its total count to 97,950. With 56 new deaths, 5,523 people in the city have died due to the virus till now.
The number of Covid-19 cases in India crossed the 1 million (10 lakh) markas more than 35,000 new infections were detected on Thursday. Data reported by state governments until late in the evening showed the total number of infections since the outbreak of the epidemic had crossed 10,04,000. A few states had not reported Thursday’s data by press time.
These new figures will be reflected in the official data of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday. The numbers in the chart alongside are up to July 15. India’s journey from half a million to 1 million cases has taken just 20 days. Only two countries, the United States and Brazil, have a larger caseload than India. According to the global database of the World Health Organisation, more than 3.4 million people have so far been infected in the United States, while, in Brazil, this number is 1.92 million.
At least 30 persons tested positive for coronavirus and one person died of the deadly infection in Amravati district of Maharashtra on Thursday, an official said. A 60-year-old man from Ishabgoan succumbed to COVID-19 at the Government Medical College and Hospital in Nagpur, taking the toll to 37 in the district, the official said.
With the detection of 30 fresh cases, the tally in Amravati has reached 1,089, he said. At least 49 patients were discharged from hospitals, taking the count of recoveries to 716, he said. As on Thursday, there are 336 active cases, which includes 15 patients undergoing treatment in Nagpur, the official added. (PTI)
Poet-activist Varavara Rao has tested positive for Covid-19. The 80-year old, named as accused in the Elgar Parishad case, was shifted to state-run JJ Hospital from Taloja central jail where he was lodged after he complained of dizziness. The hospital conducted tests including one for Covid-19 the results for which confirmed that he is positive.
Dr Ranjit Mankeshwar, the dean of JJ Hospital, said, “He has shown no symptoms of Covid-19 so far. He has no breathing difficulty and is stable. We will soon shift him to a Covid hospital.” Rao is likely to be shifted to St George hospital.
Last week, Rao’s family had held a press conference after receiving a call from him from prison. His family had then said that his condition was deteriorating and he should be provided immediate medical aid. He was earlier shifted to the hospital when he fell unconscious in jail in May but was discharged within three days. The family had said that he was not provided proper medical treatment. Read more here
Maharashtra on Thursday reported the highest single-day spike of 8,641 new cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) infections. The state tally now stands at 2,84,281. With 266 fresh deaths, the death toll now stands at 11,194, the state health department said in its bulletin.
Mumbai on Thursday reported 1,498 fresh cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) infection, with 56 new fatalities. The total number of cases in the city rose to 97,751 with this, with the death toll at 5,520. There are 23,694 active cases. At least 68,537 people have been discharged/recovered.
The Bombay High Court on Thursday directed the authority at the Kolhapur Central Prison in Maharashtra to consider afresh emergency parole pleas of three murder convicts who are serving life sentence. A bench led by Justice S S Shinde was hearing a petition filed by Milind Patil and two others in the light of a state high-power committee's orders about grant of parole to de-congest prisons amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Patil and his co-accused moved the HC after their pleas for emergency parole on the ground of coronavirus were rejected by the prison superintendent. The petition said the Maharashtra government's parole and furlough rules mandate that if an inmate has been granted emergency parole twice in the past and if he or she has duly returned to the prison after the end of parole period, such a person can be granted emergency parole again.
Patil had availed of emergency parole only once since being convicted four years ago, prison authorities contended. He did not qualify under the rule as he had not been granted parole on two occasions, they said. Of the other two petitioners, one had been granted emergency parole only once and other had never applied for emergency parole in the past, the high court was told. (PTI)
As many as 1,510 new coronavirus positive cases were reported in Maharashtra's Pune on Wednesday, which took the count of patients in the district to 42,836, a health official said. The death toll in the district reached 1,176 with 35 persons succumbing to the infection in the last 24 hours, he said.
"Of the 1,510 new cases, 818 were from areas in Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) limits, where the overall tally of COVID-19 patients has gone up to 29,494," the official said. A total of 746 patients were discharged from hospitals following their recovery during the day. With 433 new cases in neighbouring Pimpri Chinchwad, the tally in this industrial township grew to 8,853, he said. (PTI)
The Business Advisory Committee (BAC) of both Houses of the Maharashtra Legislature is likely to meet next week to discuss the COVID-19 situation in the state and on holding the monsoon session of the Legislature, Assembly Speaker Nana Patole said on Thursday. The monsoon session, which was earlier scheduled to start from June 22, was deferred to August 3 in view of the pandemic.
Patole told PTI that the BAC is likely to meet next week to discuss the prevailing situation. Nearly 1,500 people, including legislators and other staff, are present at a time in the VidhanBhavan when the Legislature session is in progress. The Vidhan Bhavan has a total staff strength of 750, Patole said. "At the BAC meet, the prevailing situation would be reviewed and views of the government and the opposition would be sought," he said.
The budget session of the Legislature had been cut short by a week in March after the outbreak of COVID-19 in the state. Till Wednesday, Maharashtra reported 2,75,640 COVID-19 cases and 10,928 deaths due to the disease. (PTI)
Former chief minister and senior Congress leader from Maharashtra Shivajirao Patil Nilangekar (91) has tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Patil, who has been admitted to a private hospital in Pune, was undergoing treatment in a hospital in his home territory of Latur when he tested positive. Sources close to the family told The Indian Express the former CM had complained of uneasiness early on Wednesday when he was admitted to a private hospital in Latur. After his swab report came positive, he was shifted to Pune for further treatment.
Patil Nilangekar is the second senior politician from Latur to test positive. Earlier, BJP MLA from Ausa Abhimanyu Pawar had tested positive. He is undergoing treatment at a hospital in Latur.
Nilangekar was the chief minister for a brief stint in 1985-1986. A powerful cooperative leader from Latur, his grandson Sambhaji Patil is a BJP MLA and was the labour minister in the Devendra Fadnavis led government.
Input from Parthasarathi Biswas
Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Nana Patole has confirmed that the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) of both Houses of the Legislature will meet next week to discuss the Covid-19 situation in the state and the upcoming monsoon session. The session was originally to begin on June 22, but has been deferred.
"At the BAC meet, the prevailing situation would be reviewed and views of the government and the opposition would be sought," he said, reported news agency PTI.
Maharashtra’s first woman chief election commissioner Neela Satyanarayan passed away at a hospital in Mumbai on Thursday at the age of 71. The had tested positive for Covid-19. Satyanarayan, also a celebrated author and poet, is the first IAS officer in the state to succumb to the disease.
In some news for Mumbai, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an orange alert (to be prepared) for the city, Thane and Palghar on Thursday with a forecast of “heavy to very heavy rain” at isolated places. Mumbai and coastal Maharashtra have been witnessing heavy rains since Tuesday night resulting in waterlogging in several areas. The intensity, however, is likely to reduce from Friday. On Wednesday, IMD’s Santacruz observatory recorded 80.2 mm of rain between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm, while the Colaba station recorded 39.2 mm during the same time period.
Forty Kerala doctors who had come to Mumbai at the request of the state government to help the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation in the battle against Covid-19 are on their way back home as the civic body has not yet paid their salaries. Fifteen have already left for Kerala while the remaining 25 will be heading back Thursday. At least four of the 35 nurses from Kerala, who had joined Seven Hills hospital last month, too, have not received their salary from the BMC.
“All 40 doctors who came to Mumbai have not been paid. They were supposed to work for two months. Fifteen of them decided to return home last week due to salary issues,” said a doctor associated with the South Asia chapter of Doctors Without Borders that had facilitated the movement of these professionals to Maharashtra during the lockdown. Read Tabassum Barnagarwala's report
From next week, government employees in Mumbai performing essential services will have to scan QR codes — generated for each of them — at entry points of railway stations to board trains. The access system, put in place by the state government and the Railways, will regulate the entry of passengers into stations. It has taken over a month to set up the QR code system since the train services had resumed on June 15. Under the new system, identity cards with QR codes will be provided to each government employee. Read Iram Siddique's report