3,663 new coronavirus cases in Maharashtra; Uddhav Thackeray says follow norms or face lockdown

Mumbai, Feb 16: Maharashtra reported 3,663 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, continuing the trend of increase in cases in the last few days, a health official said.

It also recorded 39 new fatalities.

Health Minister Rajesh Tope said there was no reason to panic but safety norms must be followed, while Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray warned that if people did not follow social distancing and wear mask, another lockdown may follow.

The caseload in the state reached 20,71,306 while death toll rose to 51,591, said a health official.

Since last Wednesday, Maharashtra has been reporting more than 3,000 cases on daily basis. On Sunday, it recorded 4,092 cases, highest single-day spike in more than a month,

The number of districts showing rise in active COVID- 19 patients has increased in the last few days, the government data showed.

Over 88 lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses administered; 1.3 lakh jabs given on Tuesday: Govt

There has been relaxation in travel restrictions since February 1 which could have been one of the factors behind the increase in numbers, said a health department official.

As many as 2,700 patients were discharged on Tuesday, taking the tally of recovered people to 19,81,408.

The recovery rate of the state is 95.66 per cent.

There are 1,82,970 people in home quarantine while 1,726 are in institutional quarantine.

With this, the number of active cases is 37,125.

Nagpur city reported highest 502 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, followed by Mumbai at 461 cases.

Pune city reported 311 new cases and Amravati city reported 310 cases, officials said.

Mumbai division reported 862 cases, taking the cumulative caseload to 7,06,303, while death toll in the region reached 19,712.

Nashik division''s COVID-19 tally increased to 2,81,933 with a death count of 5,181.

The number of total cases in the Pune division stood at 5,10,158 and deaths at 11,678.

Kolhapur division has reported 1,18,822 cases and 4,042 deaths while Aurangabad division has reported 76,519 cases and 2,016 deaths so far.

Akola division has reported 79,205 cases and 1,662 deaths so far, while Nagpur division''s COVID-19 case tally stands at 2,14,319 and death toll at 4,733.

The state has carried out 1,53,96,444 coronavirus tests so far with 37,418 tests carried out on Tuesday.

Maharashtra''s COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases: 20,71,306, new cases: 3,663, death toll: 51,591, discharged: 19,81,408, active cases: 37,125, people tested so far: 1,53,96,444.