The COVID-19 outbreak continued to wreak havoc in Maharashtra as a staggering 352 persons — the highest single-day surge yet — tested positive on Monday. The State’s cumulative tally exceeded well past the 2000 mark, surging to 2334, while its death toll rose to 160 with 11 deaths occurring during the day.
The State recorded a jump of nearly 50% in the number of positive cases since Sunday, with Mumbai alone reporting 242 new cases as its tally alarmingly soared to 1,540 cases.
Of the 11 deaths, nine occurred in Mumbai city, taking the maximum city’s death toll to 101 – more than 60% of the State’s death toll. One death was reported from Pune, taking the district death toll to 30, while Mira Bhayander, which saw a rise with seven new cases, reported its second death. Till date, 229 patients in the State have been discharged following full recovery.
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Fresh cases were also reported from Thane (9) and Vasai Virar (5) which are part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).
In Pune, the number of positive cases continued to surge with as many as 55 new cases being reported from the district, taking the total tally to 337 with Pune city reporting 295 of these cases. Thus far, Pune division - which comprises of Pune, Satara, Kolhapur, Sangli and Solapur districts – has reported a total 35 deaths of which 30 are from Pune city alone, while one is from Baramati (Pune Rural), one from Pimpri-Chinchwad, one from Solapur and two more from Satara district.
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Nagpur, where the virus had hitherto remained in check, saw a sudden surge with 11 new cases. Malegaon in Nashik district, which is rapidly emerging as a virus hotspot in north Maharashtra, reported 14 more cases, taking its tally to 29.
The State has the highest death toll as well as the highest number of positive cases in the country.
Earlier, some persons believed to have been a part of the Nizamuddin Tablighi Jamaat conclave had tested positive in Malegaon, sending shock-waves across the city and leading to widespread panic.
As many as 50 persons who had attended the religious gathering at Delhi have tested positive so far, said authorities.
“As per the Government of India guidelines, the cluster containment action plan is being implemented in places where clusters of patients have been found in the state. A total of 4,223 surveillance squads are working across the state at present and surveillance of 15.93 lakh persons have been carried out so far,” said State Surveillance Officer Dr. Pradeep Awate.