Covid-19: Day after 24-hour high of 13,000 cases, Maharashtra crosses 14,000 mark

MUMBAI: A day after the state reported over 13,000 cases in a day for the first time on Thursday, Maharashtra broke the dubious record by reporting 14,492 cases in a day, its highest spike so far since March. With Thursday’s addition, the state’s total case tally touched 6,43,289, close to the 6.5 lakh mark. The state has added over 10,000 cases each in 14 out of the 20 days of August.
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region, including BMC, added 3,659 cases and 83 deaths, taking the total cases in the region to 2,99,165, close to the 3 lakh mark it is likely to hit on Friday. Mumbai accounts for 44.3% of the total cases in MMR, while the remaining are from the other three districts—Thane, Raigad and Palghar. The region’s total Covid fatalities are 11,968. Thane Municipal Corporation and Navi Mumbai municipal corporation have over 24,000 cases each and may cross the 25,000 mark in a day or two.
For the second consecutive day, the state added over 300 deaths to its Covid-19 toll. With the addition of 326 deaths on Thursday, the total fatalities reached 21,033. Out of the 326 deaths reported though, 231 were from the last 48 hours and 63 from last week, officials said. The remaining 32 deaths were from the period before last week and included deaths from Pune, Kolhapur, Thane, among others, officials said.
In terms of cases, Mumbai reported 1,275, just 8.7% of the total cases on Thursday, taking its count to 1,32,822. Thursday’ addition was the second highest number of cases added this month. The gap between Mumbai’s contribution to the state’s caseload is on the decline, with the city now accounting for 20.6% of the total cases in the state. Mumbai however registered an increase in active cases, with the number touching 18,172 after remaining in the 17,000 bracket for the last five days.
Additional municipal commissioner Suresh Kakani said that the city had enough Covid beds and hence people should not hesitate to get tested on time. “Even those under home isolation, particularly above 50, should closely monitor their symptoms and shouldn’t delay seeking care. It improves the chances of recovery in a big way,” he said.
Pune division continued to drive the Covid graph of the state; for the first time, the division added over 4,000 cases in a day. With this addition, Pune division’s total cases reached 1,65,434 and the total deaths came to 4,445, of which 107 were added on Thursday. There were 477 cases from within NMMC areas, taking the total Covid-19 count there to 22,275.
The recoveries too picked up on Thursday after a dip for the last two days. 12,243 people were sent home on Thursday, taking the total discharged to 4.5 lakh. The rate of discharge of the state as on Thursday was 71.3%.