Mumbai on Saturday recorded 1,709 new coronavirus cases – the highest daily count this year, PTI reported. With this, the city’s tally jumped to 3,41,999. The toll rose to 3,41,999 with five more fatalities.

Maharashtra logged over 15,000 cases for the second consecutive day, registering 15,602 fresh infections and 88 deaths. The tally in the state climbed to 22,97,793 and the toll increased to 52,811. The state health department said that 40 fatalities occurred in the last 48 hours, 21 in the last week and the remaining 27 before that.

Amid the surge in cases, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray issued a warning about imposing a lockdown, reported News18. In a review meeting with restaurant owners, the chief minister said that establishments need to follow coronavirus-related norms such as wearing masks and following physical distancing norms.

With 7,461 discharges, the recovery tally in Maharashtra rose to 21,25,211. There are 1,18,525 active cases in the state.

Nagpur city recorded the highest number of new cases in the state with 1,828 infections, followed by 1,709 in Mumbai and 1,667 in Pune city.

The health department said that the Pune division, comprising civic bodies of Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad as well as districts such as Pune, Solapur and Satara, recorded the highest number of 3,365 infections.

Mumbai division’s tally climbed to 7,56,184, followed by 3,14,975 in Nashik, 2,51,602 in Nagpur, 1,20,980 in Kohlapur, 1,16,438 in Akola and 91,512 in Latur divisions.

There are 5,70,695 people in home quarantine, while 5,031 are in institutional quarantine across the state. Maharashtra has so far tested 1,74,08,504 samples for the coronavirus.

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.

Restrictions in Maharashtra

On Friday, 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. 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.