In the last couple of weeks, Maharashtra has recorded high cases of the COVID-19 Delta variant and with two more deaths reported in the state taking the total number of deaths to 5.
The two deaths were recorded in Ratnagiri while one each was reported from Mumbai, Raigad, and Beed, leaving health officials concerned. All the deceased were senior citizens above the age of 65 years with various comorbidities, and two were fully vaccinated and two not inoculated, while the status of the fifth victim is being ascertained.
A 69-year-old man diagnosed with Delta Plus succumbed in Raigad's Nagothane, while a middle-aged woman infected by the same variant is under treatment in nearby Uran town.
Late on Thursday (August 12), the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) received the Delta Plus positive sample reports of a 60-year-old woman from the eastern suburbs of the city, who had passed away on July 24.
Prior to that, the first patient of Delta Plus in the state, an 80-year-old man, had expired in Ratnagiri on June 25, and two patients, one each from Ratnagiri and Beed have also fallen victims to the new variant, according to the officials.
On Wednesday (August 11), the Maharashtra Health Department had pegged the number of Delta Plus variant patients in the state at 66, of whom 61 are fully recovered to date, as per data from the Institute of Genomics Integrative Biology lab.
Among these 66 patients, the highest (13) are from Jalgaon, followed by 12 from Ratnagiri, 11 from Mumbai, six each in Thane and Pune, three in Palghar and Raigad, two each in Nanded, and Gondia, and one each from Sindhudurg, Aurangabad, Kolhapur, Sangli, Beed, Nandurbar, Akola, and Chandrapur.
As a precaution, the Health Department has started searching for the close contacts of these infectees on a war footing, besides ascertaining their travel history, vaccination status, recent medical status and other relevant details to prevent more infections, said the officials.