Maharashtra Coronavirus HIGHLIGHTS: State govt to issue circular for rational use of remdesivir

A 33-year-old woman, who was admitted to the jumbo Covid facility in Pune in the last week of August, has “gone missing” from the facility. While authorities have claimed that she was discharged days ago, her family members say that they found out she was missing only on September 13, when they were asked to come pick her up from the centre. Police are currently probing a missing complaint registered by the family on September 14.

Family members of the woman and some social outfits held a protest outside the jumbo facility on CoEP Ground in Pune on Thursday, demanding action against authorities who, they allege, are responsible for the “disappearance” of the woman. Her family members have alleged that hospital authorities initially gave them various answers about her date of discharge, and have now said that she was discharged on September 5.

After a sudden surge during Ganesh festival, Covid-19 cases in Pimpri-Chinchwad have seen a drop, with the positivity rate falling from from 25-27 per cent earlier this month to 17 per cent by Wednesday.

While positive cases started rising at the beginning of August, by the end of the month, the twin city was reporting over 1,000 cases every day. Since the start of September, Pimpri-Chinchwad has registered between 1,000 to 1,300 cases every day.

However, from last Friday (September 18), the number of new cases every day has slipped below 1,000, with 843 cases reported that day. On September 19, 981 cases were reported, 749 cases on September 20, 655 cases on September 21, 798 cases on September 22, and 800 cases on September 23.

The Maharashtra government on Tuesday (September 22) agreed to be the guarantor for 32 sugar mills to avail pre-season loans. In doing so, the government diluted its own norms for providing guarantees to sugar mills, and burdened the cash-strapped exchequer with expected contingent liabilities of Rs 391 crore. The approval came into force on Thursday (September 24). Why did the government agree to guarantee the loans of these 32 sugar mills? We explain

A spike of 272 infections took the caseload past the 12,000-mark to 12,016 in Amravati district of Maharashtra on Thursday, while six fresh deaths raised the toll to 259, the local administration said. With 269 patients getting discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours, the number of recovered cases rose to 9,166, a civil surgeon office release said. This has left 3,525 active COVID-19 cases, it said.

Keeping in mind the rise in Covid-19 cases even in rural areas, the Bombay High Court on Thursday refused to intervene in the state government’s decision to not open places of worship to the public. The court said it will review after two months based on the Covid-19 situation in Maharashtra. Read more here

Amid lack of guidelines from the state government ahead of Navratri, idol makers in the city have decided to stick to guidelines that were issued for Ganpati festival. With less than a month to go for the festival, which begins from October 17, the Home department or BMC is yet to issue a statement on protocols to be followed. Read more here

Maharashtra's coronavirus case tally rose to 12,82,963 on Thursday with addition of 19,164 cases, the state health department said. With 459 fatalities being reported during the day, the death toll in the state reached 34,345, it said. A total of 17,185 patients were discharged from hospitals, taking the recoveries in the state to 9,73,214, it said, adding that the state now has 2,74,993 active cases. Mumbai city reported 2,163 new cases during the day, which pushed its overall case count to 1,92,427, while its death toll rose to 8,658 with 54 new fatalities. (PTI)

As many as 1,126 persons tested positive for coronavirus, while 44 died of the infection in Maharashtra's Nagpur district on Thursday, an official said. With the fresh infections, the district's caseload has risen to 71,616, the official said. The latest fatalities have taken the toll to 2,261, of which 1,672 are from Nagpur city and the rest from rural areas and outside the district, he said. (PTI)

A 33-year-old woman patient has allegedly gone missing from a COVID-19 jumbo hospital in Pune, prompting her family members to stage a protest outside the medical facility on Thursday. While the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) said the woman was discharged from the hospital on September 5, her relatives have filed a missing person's complaint at Shivajinagar police station here in Maharashtra. The woman was admitted to the hospital, located at the College of Engineering Pune (COEP) ground, on August 29 after testing positive for coronavirus, her mother told reporters. (PTI)

Maharashtra Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde Thursday said he has tested positive for Covid-19, and asked all those who came in contact with him to get themselves tested. Shinde had attended the state cabinet meeting earlier this week.
He is the 13th minister in Maharashtra to be infected by the disease. Taking to Twitter, he said, "I conducted my COVID-19 test yesterday and have tested positive. Health is fine thanks to the blessings of you all. Requesting all who came in my contact over the past some days to take proper care and get themselves tested."

The Bombay High Court Thursday refused to interfere in the Maharashtra government's decision to not open places of worship for the public amid COVID-19 pandemic, reported news agency PTI. A bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G S Kulkarni said the court did not wish to intervene in the government's decision keeping in mind the "prevailing situation" of constant rise in coronavirus cases, even in rural areas. The observation came after Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni submitted that worshippers could not be allowed to visit temples, or any other places of worship as yet.

Thane detected an additional 1,935 cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday, taking its tally to 1,63,594. At least 29 people died in the district, taking the toll to 4,234. The fatality rate is 2.59 per cent in Thane. With 1,41,015 patients recouperating, the recovery rate has increased to 86.20 per cent. Kalyan town has the highest cases at 39,931, followed by Navi Mumbai (34,174) and Thane (33,990), PTI reported.

The Central Railways has introduced 68 trains in Mumbai, 46 of which will ply on the main line (Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus to Kasara, Khopoli and Karjat), and 22 on the harbour line (CSMT to Panvel and Goregaon). There were previously 355 trains plying. The number has increased to 423.

"In order to maintain social distancing and avoid crowding, the Central Railway has taken the decision to increase the number of daily special suburban services from 355 to 423 from September 24," CR's chief public relations officer Shivaji Sutar said. "Services were gradually increased for the convenience of passengers and to avoid crowding and maintain social distancing."

The phased 'unlockdown' has raised hopes among children lodged in custodial care institutions in Mumbai, who are awaiting repatriation to their home countries or reunion with their families in other states. At the Children Aid Society’s home in Dongri, 36 children are awaiting reunion with their families since March, held up by delayed procedures, limited trains and permissions from their states. The home also has four children from other countries, including Nepal and Bangladesh, awaiting travel permits to return. Read Sadaf Modak's report

Observing that "anxious moments in life of near ones, who have tested positive for Covid-19, lead to unexpected behaviour", the Bombay High Court last week granted pre-arrest bail to a man and directed him to pay Rs 10,000 to the Chief Minister Relief Fund. The man was booked for causing obstruction and assaulting a government servant visiting a gram panchayat office. The man was searching for a bed at government hospitals for his Covid-19 positive mother.

A single judge bench of Justice Bharati H Dangre on September 18 was hearing the anticipatory bail plea of Swapnil Lande, filed through advocate Pranav H Bhoite. The applicant told the court that his mother on July 25 tested positive and was home-quarantined as no beds were available in nearby hospitals. After hearing submissions, Justice Dangre noted, “The pandemic situation has brought the entire world on its knees... The anxious moments in the life of near and dear ones of a person, who has tested positive, lead to unprecedented situation and unexpected behaviour." Read Omkar Ghokale's report

As Covid-19 spreads to rural Maharashtra from the big cities, doctors are fighting more than just the disease. With low pay and long hours, the pandemic is exposing cracks in the state’s health infrastructure. Even urgent advertisements by the government for specialists have yielded little response. Read part II of an Express series, 'Test reports from the field'.

Bharat Biotech has announced that it will manufacture up to a billion doses of a single-dose intranasal vaccine. This means, the vaccine is sprayed into the nostrils and inhaled. What is the importance of such a vaccine for Covid-19? Are there potential issues with a vaccine such as this? Read Prabha Raghavan's explainer

Mumbai reported 2,360 new cases on Wednesday, taking its count to 1,90,264. At least 49 people died due to Covid-19, due to which the death toll increased to 8,604. Pune, on the other hand, detected 3,886 infections; its total Covid-19 figure now stands at 2,61,683, including 5,954 deaths.

Maharashtra detected 21,029 cases of the novel coronavirus on Wednesday, taking its tally to 12.63 lakh. With 479 deaths due to the disease, the toll rose to 33,886. The state’s 12,63,799 cases of Covid-19 includes 2,73,477 patients who are undergoing treatment and 9,56,030 who have recovered.