Covid-19: Maharashtra logs 15,817 new cases – highest daily count this year for third day straight
Mumbai also registered the highest case count since mid-October with 1,646 infections.
Maharashtra on Friday recorded 15,817 new coronavirus cases – the highest daily count this year for the third consecutive day, reported PTI. The state’s tally is now at 22,82,191.
With 56 fatalities, the toll climbed to 52,723. Maharashtra has 1,10,485 active cases, the highest in the country. A total of 11,344 patients were discharged, taking the recovery tally to 21,17,744, which is 92.79% of total cases reported, according to NDTV.
In a statement, the government said that 5,42,693 people were in home quarantine and 4,884 people in institutional quarantine.
Meanwhile, Mumbai also registered the highest case count since mid-October with 1,646 infections. The city has been reporting over 1,000 cases for the last few days. On Friday, the coronavirus tally climbed to 3,40,290 and four deaths took the fatality count to 11,523 in the financial capital of India. The Covid-19 tally in the wider Mumbai division rose to 7,52,986 after it recorded 3,137 new cases. With 11 deaths, the toll increased to 19,932.
In Pune division, 3,580 cases of coronavirus infections were recorded, taking the tally to 5,53,064. The toll was 11,832. The division comprises civic bodies of Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad as well as districts of Pune, Satara and Solapur.
Nashik division’s Covid-19 tally stood at 3,12,328, followed by 2,48,912 in Nagpur, 1,14,655 in Akola and 90,774 in Latur.
Maharashtra is one of the worst-hit states in the country and along with Kerala accounted for 71.69% of India’s total active cases, the health ministry said on Friday.
From the beginning of the pandemic, Maharashtra has reported the highest number of cases in the country. While infections did drop for some time in September and October, they have surged again over the last few weeks. This has prompted authorities in various districts of the state to reimpose restrictions.
Earlier in the day, fresh restrictions were imposed in the Pune district. The new curbs are aimed at restricting the operation of business establishments at night, movement of public and crowding.
On Thursday, a complete lockdown was imposed in Nagpur from March 15 to March 21. Nagpur city had reported 1,513 coronavirus cases on Wednesday. All shops and establishments, except those which offer essential services, will be shut during this period, state minister Nitin Raut said.
Authorities in Maharashtra’s Jalgaon district had on Tuesday imposed a “janata curfew” to be implemented between 8 pm on March 11 and 8 am on March 15. Thane district had on Monday announced a lockdown in 16 coronavirus hotspots till the end of the month to combat a surge in infections.
In February, fresh restrictions were also imposed in Yavatmal and Amravati districts to control the spread of the infection.