The Maharashtra government has decided to extend lockdown-like restrictions for the next two weeks, State Health Minister Rajesh Tope said on Friday.
Observing that the State’s recovery rate had exceeded 93%, he said while it was decided at the Cabinet meeting on Thursday that the curbs should be extended, the final decision on the districts where (and in what manner) curbs would be lifted would be announced soon.
Mr. Tope also announced relaxations in restrictions for shops selling essential items in Pune district by permitting them to operate on weekends for a longer period.
Meanwhile, recoveries continued to exceed cases as the State reported 20,740 new COVID-19 cases, while 31,671 patients were discharged. Active cases have dipped below the three lakh mark to reach 2,89,088.
A total of 973 deaths were added to the State’s toll, of which 424 occurred during the last week. Of these 424, 291 were recorded in the last 48 hours, while 549 were added in the ongoing ‘reconciliation’ process, as per the State Health Department. The total toll has risen to 93,198, with the State’s case fatality rate rising to 1.64%.
The total cases have reached 56,92,920, while cumulative recoveries have risen to 53,07,874, with the recovery rate rising to 93.24%. “Of 3,43,50,186 laboratory samples tested thus far, 56,92,920 (with the average case positivity falling incrementally to 16.64%) have returned positive, with over 2.64 lakh samples being tested in the last 24 hours,” said State Surveillance Officer Dr. Pradeep Awate.
Pune reported nearly 2,500 new cases as its total cases reached 10,11,632. As per State Health Department figures, 41 deaths were reported as the total death toll rose to 12,249. As per district authorities, the active case tally has dipped drastically below 37,000, while the total death toll has now exceeded 16,700, with 60 fatalities reported in the last 24 hours.
924 cases in Mumbai
Mumbai reported 924 new cases to take its tally to 7,02,522 while active cases declined further to 28,793. As many as 30 fatalities took the city’s death toll to 14,750.
Nagpur district reported its lowest surge in over two months, recording less than 400 cases to take the tally to 4,88,805, of whom 14,593 are active. Twelve deaths pushed the toll to 6,537.
Cases piled up in Satara, which reported 2,398 new infections and 24 deaths, taking its tally to 1,59,658, of whom 21,591 are active. Its death toll has risen to 2,992.
Kolhapur reported 38 deaths and more than 2,000 cases as its toll rose to 3,318 and its total cases reached 1,08,511, of whom 17,946 are active.
Ahmednagar reported 23 deaths and nearly 1,200 cases as its total death toll rose to 2,992 and the total cases reached 2,48,089, of whom 11,578 are active.
Nashik in north Maharashtra reported less than 700 new cases, taking its total tally to 3,83,950. The active case tally continued to decline, reaching 10,767, while 19 deaths pushed its total death toll to 4,546.
