Maharashtra Covid cases dip to 7,603, Mumbai’s below 500

MUMBAI: Due to the weekend effect of fewer tests, the daily tally and toll of Covid-19 in Mumbai and Maharashtra registered a drop on Monday.
Cases in the state dropped to 7,603, lowest in a week. Fatalities also dropped to 53, lowest since June 5 (51). Testing in the state dropped to 1.75 lakh over the weekend, lower than the average of over 2 lakh tests during weekdays. The caseload rose to 61.65 lakh and fatalities to 1,26,024. Cases in Mumbai dropped below 500 (496) for the first time since July 6 (455). Only nine deaths were registered, taking the toll so far to 15,636. After two weeks of managing to do over 30,000 tests daily, the BMC update said 27,827 tests were conducted on Sunday.
Acknowledging that Covid-19’s graph in Kolhapur has been rising -- 3,214 on July 10, 3,282 on July 11 and 3453 on Monday -- authorities said the only explanation could be the late advent of the Delta wave in the district. “While the second wave caused by the Delta variant began earlier in other districts, it is now that Kolhapur is affected,” said Pradeep Awate, who heads the epidemiology cell of the public health wing. Awate said positive samples from Kolhapur sent for genomic analysis had shown the Delta variant in circulation..