Maharashtra sees over 62,000 new Covid-19 cases, 853 deaths in 24 hours
- Compared to Wednesday, Maharashtra's Covid-19 caseload increased by 4,554 in the last 24 hours, but the fatality count dropped by 67
Maharashtra today reported 62,194 new coronavirus cases, taking its cumulative tally to 49,42,736, while 853 more deaths pushed the toll to 73,515, the state health department said.
Out of the 853 fatalities, 331 occurred in the last 48 hours, 247 in the past one week and the remaining 275 in the period before last week, but were added to the toll now as part of the data reconciliation exercise, the official said.
Compared to Wednesday, Maharashtra's Covid-19 caseload increased by 4,554 in the last 24 hours, but the fatality count dropped by 67.
Fresh recoveries were slightly more than the new infections.
He said 63,842 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, raising the number of recovered cases to 42,27,940.
The state now has 6,39,075 active cases, the official said.
Maharashtra's COVID-19 recovery rate currently stood at 85.54 per cent, while the fatality rate was 1.49 per cent, he said.
According to the official, 2,77,086 more COVID-19 tests were conducted in the state, taking the tally of samples examined so far to 2,86,61,668.
He said Mumbai reported 3,028 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to 6,68,085, while the toll increased to 13,580 with 69 fresh fatalities.
After Mumbai, 14 patients died in Panvel city followed by 12 in Navi Mumbai and 10 in Thane city, among other areas.
The larger Mumbai administrative division, including the financial capital and its satellite towns, reported 8,525 cases 124 deaths due to COVID-19, he said.
This increased the regions caseload to 14,24,093 and the fatality count to 24,296, the official said.
'Centre has cut Maha's oxygen allocation by 50 MT'
The Centre has reduced the supply of liquid medical oxygen to Maharashtra from Karnataka by 50 metric tonnes (MT), a move which will have severe impact on treatment of COVID-19 patients in the state, health minister Rajesh Tope said on Thursday.
He said the issue of reduction in liquid medical oxygen supply to Maharashtra, which has the maximum number of active cases in the country, should be raised with the Union health ministry.
Speaking to reporters here, Tope said, The Union government today reduced the allocation of liquid medical oxygen from Karnataka by 50 metric tonnes.
"It will have severe impact on the ongoing treatment of COVID-19 patients in Maharashtra. It is necessary to raise the issue with the Union health ministry and other officials concerned."
Covid cases in rural areas
Also, outside Mumbai, more coronavirus cases are coming from rural areas, indicating the spread of the infection beyond urban centres.
Compared to municipal corporation areas of Pune, Nashik, Kolhapur and Sangli, more cases were reported from rural pockets of these districts.
For instance, the Nashik administrative division reported 13,982 fresh cases, of which 6,239 were from rural parts of Nashik district.
Nashik city reported 2,318 cases and 58 deaths, while Ahmednagar district registered 3,081 cases and 15 deaths, the official said.
The Pune administrative division reported 14,453 cases and 154 deaths of which Pune rural accounted for 4,153 infections and 42 fatalities.
Pune city reported 3,164 cases and 34 deaths, while Solapur district recorded 2,126 infections and 30 fatalities, the official said.
The Kolhapur administrative division reported 4,704 cases and 65 deaths. Kolhapur city reported only 345 cases but 1,142 infections came from rural areas of the district.
Similarly, 367 fresh cases came from Sangli-Miraj- Kupwad Municipal Corporation areas, but 1,760 infections were added by the rural parts of the district, he said.
Out of the 65 deaths in the division, 14 were from Kolhapur rural and 19 from Sangli district, the official said.
The Aurangabad division added 2,809 cases and 43 deaths, while the Latur division reported 3,991 fresh COVID-19 cases and 131 more fatalities.
In the Aurangabad division, Beed district reported 43 deaths followed by 29 in Nanded, the official said.
The Akola division's caseload increased by 5,020, while 64 more patients succumbed to the coronavirus infection.
The Nagpur division reported 8,710 new cases and 105 deaths. Of the deaths in the division, 31 occurred in Nagpur city followed by 21 in Wardha and 19 in Chandrapur, the official said.
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