Maharashtra on Thursday recorded an unprecedented 18,105 fresh COVID-19 cases, its highest single-day surge yet, taking its total case tally to 8,43,844. A spike of 391 deaths pushed its total death toll to 25,586.
Of the 391 deaths, 268 were reported in the last 48 hours, while 64 deaths occurred last week. The remaining 59 deaths took place at a prior period, said State Health Department authorities. Thursday’s surge — the first time that the State reported more than 18,000 cases in a day — exceeded Wednesday’s high of nearly 17,500 cases.
The number of active cases has risen to 2,05,428. As many as 13,988 patients were discharged on Thursday, taking the total recoveries till date to 6,12,484. At the same time, the State also tested a record 88,000 samples. “The State’s recovery rate stands at 72.58%, while its case fatality rate has marginally reduced to 3.03%,” said State Surveillance Officer Dr. Pradeep Awate.
Pune reported a record-high surge of nearly 4,000 cases to take its total case tally to 1,86,122. The district reported 78 deaths to take its total death toll to 4,238. As per the Pune district administration, the number of active cases in the district stood at nearly 35,500 with the district’s recovery rate standing at 77.64%. Mumbai reported 1,526 cases to take its total case load to 1,50,095, of which 21,439 are active. With 37 fatalities, the city’s toll has risen to 7,764.
In the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Thane reported more than 600 new cases as its total case load crossed the 48,00 -mark, while 16 new deaths saw its death toll rise to 1,519. Navi Mumbai reported 10 more deaths and 359 fresh cases to take its total death toll to 664 and its total case tally to 29,802.
Nagpur district in Vidarbha recorded its highest surge till date of 1,620 new cases along with 31 deaths. The district’s total case tally has now reached 32,653, of which 14,101 are active, while the total death toll has climbed to 821.
The situation in the sugar heartland of western Maharashtra continued to remain grim: Kolhapur reported 468 new cases, taking its total cases to 23,827, of which 6,054 are active, while a sharp spike of 30 new deaths saw the district’s death toll rise to 712. Neighbouring Sangli reported a record surge of 845 cases, which the district’s total case tally to 16,040, of which 6,946 are active. With 24 fatalities, the district’s death toll has climbed to 484. Satara district reported a big spike of 670 cases to take its total cases to 16,096, of which 6,308 are active. A sharp fatality rise of 25 deaths took its cumulative death toll to 388.
Nashik district, a major virus hotbed in north Maharashtra, reported a huge spike of 898 fresh cases as its tally reached 42,355, of which 11,410 are active. With 15 new deaths, the district’s total death toll has risen to 920. Jalgaon reported 516 fresh cases and 16 new deaths. The district’s total case tally has risen to 29,488, of which 7,791 are active ones, while the death toll has now climbed to 900.
Ahmednagar saw a massive case surge of nearly 740 cases to take its case load to 22,415, of which are 4,535 are active. With seven fatalities, the total death toll has risen to 310.
“Of a total of 43,72,697 laboratory samples tested thus far, 8,43,844 (19.29%) have returned positive, with nearly 88,000 samples across the State being tested in the last 24 hours,” Dr. Awate said. A total of 14,27,316 persons across the State were in home quarantine and 36,745 were in institutional quarantine facilities.
