An elderly couple from Matunga said the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had erroneously included their names on the list of Covid-19 positive patients when they had not undergone any test for the viral infection. On July 20, the family reportedly received a call from a woman who claimed to be speaking on behalf of the civic body to informs that the two senior citizens, aged 71 and 64, had tested positive for the virus. She reportedly also read out the protocol to be followed for quarantine and sealing of the building. Read Laxman Singh's report

The Thane Police has arrested five persons in connection with black marketing of Remdesivir and Tocilizumab injections, used in Covid-19 treatment. The accused, police said, had been selling the drugs at higher rates on the black market. While the market price of Remdesivir is Rs 5,400 and Tocilizumab Rs 30,500, the accused were planning to sell the two drugs for Rs 25,000 and Rs 50,000, respectively, police added. Read more here

Vimal Pethakar had been camping on the grounds, Mumbai’s official protest site, since 2014 with her son Dattatrey, and until his demise two years ago, her husband Mohan. On Monday, after six years of protest demanding compensation of Rs 2,600 crore for 3.5 acres of ancestral land in Sangli purportedly acquired by the state government, Pethakar died on the footpath opposite the stately headquarters of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. Read Sagar Rajput's report

For the first time since the pandemic began, Maharashtra Wednesday reported over 10,000 cases of the novel coronavirus. The state counted 10,576 cases, takings its overall tally to 3.37 lakh. 

The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) reported the highest number of Covid-19 cases in a city, 2,111, in India on Wednesday, as per data provided by the Maharashtra government. PMC reported over 700 more cases than the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in Mumbai, the city with the second highest number of cases, at 1,310. Read More

The Serum Institute of India hopes to embark on phase III human clinical trials with the Oxford University vaccine candidate by August, Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Serum Institute of India, told The Indian Express on Wednesday. “We hope to enroll a few thousand people and if all goes well, the vaccine should be out by the year-end,” said Poonawalla. Read More

With lockdown coming into force in Sangli district of Maharashtra on Wednesday night, guardian minister Jayant Patil has urged people to follow norms. Patil also shared graphics to share activities which will be banned and allowed during the lockdown period till July 30.

"Lockdown has been declared in the district from 10 pm on July 22 to 10 pm on July 30 in view of the COVID-19 outbreak. It is my request to Sanglikars to follow all the rules of the administration. Let's defeat corona displaying our unity," he tweeted.

Maharashtra reported the highest single-day spike of 10,576 COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, which pushed its overall tally to 3,37,607, the state health department said. The state's death toll due to the virus went up by 280 and reached 12,556, it said. A total of 5,552 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, taking the number of recovered poeple in the state to 1,87,769, the department said in its statement.

There are 1,37,282 active cases in the state at present. So far, 16,87,213people have been tested for COVID-19 across Maharashtra, it said. Of the total number of positive cases on Wednesday, Mumbai reported 1,310, Pune city 2,111 and neighbouring Pimpri-Chinchwad1,133 cases.

The tally of COVID-19 cases in slum sprawl Dharavi here mounted to 2,507 on Wednesday with five new detections, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said. With 2,116 patients recovering so far, the largest slum colony, once a COVID-19 hotspot, now has only 141 active cases. The first case was reported in Dharavi in April 1 this year. The case count crossed the 2,500-mark on July 21.

Maharashtra minister and Shiv Sena leader Abdul Sattar on Wednesday said he has tested positive for coronavirus. In a Facebook post, Sattar, who is an MLA from Sillod constituency in Aurangabad and is a minister of state in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, said he his home quarantined in Mumbai and appealed to those who came in contact with him to get themselves tested.

Earlier, state cabinet ministers Jitendra Awhad, Ashok Chavan and Dhananjay Munde had tested positive for the disease and later recovered. Another Maharashtra minister Aslam Shaikh on Monday said he has tested positive for coronavirus.

A shopkeeper in suburban Mahim has been taking care of an elderly man suffering from partial paralysis who was abandoned on streets by his Pune- based family four months ago when the lockdown came into force. Pradeep Shinde was forced to make a home outside a shop in Shanti Niketan building on Lady Jamshedji Road after his family members left him there to fend for himself.

With partial paralysis restricting his movement, Shinde finds it difficult to walk and would often be seen in a helpless state, said Faiz Sheikh, who owns a dairy shop in the locality. 'When Shinde uncle told me about his plight, I provided him food during the lockdown. But things got worse
with the arrival of monsoon and he was left with no safe shelter,' Sheikh said.

At one point, the elderly man fell very ill due to the weather and had to be taken to a civic-run hospital nearby, he said.

Over 2 lakh cases of violation of prohibitory orders have been registered in Maharashtra till date since the coronavirus-induced lockdown was imposed in March, an official said on Wednesday. At least 2,01,158 cases of lockdown violations have been registered, in which 31,424 people have been arrested since March 22, the official said.

The state police force, which has been instrumental in implementing the prohibitory orders during the lockdown, is severely hit by the viral outbreak, he said. As many as 89 police personnel, including seven officers, have succumbed to the deadly infection, while 1,583 are presently undergoing treatment at various hospitals, the official said.

With the death of 52 personnel, the Mumbai police is the worst-affected force in the state, he added.

With 102 of its staff members succumbing to Covid-19, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is perhaps the worst affected among government agencies battling the pandemic in the country.

Till July 11, a total of 2,198 BMC workers had tested positive. The Indian Express spoke to the family members of five who died.(Read Laxman Singh's report here)

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday asked the state government that how a physically fit person above the age of 65 is expected to live a dignified life if he is not allowed to go out and earn his livelihood. The statement was made in response to a petition that challenged the government prohibiting any cast/crew members above the age of 65 on the sets of films and tv shows as part of their guidelines issued on 30 May.(With PTI inputs)

The number of new coronavirus cases crossed the 10,000 mark in Nashik on Tuesday to reach 10,064 total cases in the district along with 412 fatalities. Over the last 48 hours, 573 people were detected with COVID-19 while 22 people lost their lives due to the infection. Out of the total cases Nashik city accounts for 6,109 and Malegaon 1,204.The number of persons discharged so far is 6,970.(With PTI inputs)

The number of new coronavirus cases in Pune district touched 56,416 after 2,403 people tested positive in the last 24 hours. The death toll increased by 55 during this period to reach 1,442. Out of these 1,452 cases were reported from Pune city, 560 from Pimpri Chinchwad. A total of 805 patients were discharged during the day as well, a health official said.(With PTI inputs)

The coronavirus  situation "is in control" in Mumbai with the number of positive cases daily being reported below 1,500, BMC's additional municipal commissioner Suresh Kakani has said, PTI reported. He added that the city is conducting 6,000 to 7,000 tests daily and that most citizens are implementing covid prevention measures.

After focussing on slum areas, BMC will  now focus on residential buildings and housing societies for raising awareness about hygiene, cleanliness, social distancing etc. Guidelines will soon be issued for housing societies to ensure they do not allow outsiders without masks, he said.

Kakani also said that Ganesh mandals in the city have been asked to keep the Ganpati festival celebrations simple and low-key this year and focus on social service.

The maximum drop in active cases has been noticed in Mumbai, Akola, and Gondia over the last one month, data analysed from state government records show.Till June 20, Mumbai had 44 per cent active Covid-19 cases out of the total 65,239 infections it recorded. By July 20, it had only 23 per cent active infection of the total 1.02 lakh cases. In the same period, Akola saw a drop from 30 per cent to 15 per cent in active infection cases and Gondia saw a drop from 32 per cent to 13 per cent active infections.(Read Tabassum Barnagarwala's report here) 

A special court was informed on Tuesday that Rakesh Wadhawan, promoter of Housing Development Infrastructure Limited (HDIL), who has been behind bars in connection with the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank alleged fraud case, has tested negative for Covid-19. Read More