The upward trend in coronavirus cases in Maharashtra continued on Wednesday, as the state reported 8,807 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of infections up to 21,21,119, ANI reported. The tally is over 41% more than Tuesday’s count, when the state registered 6,218 cases. Maharashtra’s toll rose to 51,937 with 80 additional deaths on Wednesday.

In state capital Mumbai, as many as 1,167 cases were reported, according to civic body Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. This is a rise of over 81%, as compared to 643 cases on Tuesday.

The rise in cases in Maharashtra is the highest in 129 days, while in Mumbai it is the biggest in 119 days, according to Mumbai Mirror.

Earlier during the day, the district administration in Jalna ordered the shutting down of educational institutions and weekly markets till March 31 in view of the rise in coronavirus cases. A week-long lockdown has already been imposed in Amaravati district. In Pune, a limited curfew has been imposed between 11 pm and 6 am since Monday, while Parbhani district imposed restrictions on travel from 11 places in the Vidarbha region.

Maharashtra has witnessed a sudden rise in cases over the past one week. On Tuesday, it recorded the highest number of cases among all states. Earlier this week, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had announced a ban on all political, religious and social gatherings across the state.

On February 18, researchers said that during genome sequencing of Covid-19-infected blood samples, they found the “E484 K” mutation of the virus in four of them from Amravati. Since this mutation has been found in the new, fast-spreading strains in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil, district officials have been concerned that the variant could transmit quickly across Maharashtra and the country.