Yet another death was reported from Aurangabad in Maharashtra’s Marathwada region on Monday with the district, along with Pune, reporting a fresh surge in COVID-19 positive cases.
An 80-year-old woman who tested positive on May 9 passed away early on Monday at Aurangabad’s Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) to make her the 14th fatality in the district.
“On May 10, she was put on ventilator support after her oxygen levels plummeted sharply. Unfortunately, she passed away sometime after 1 a.m. today,” said an official from GMCH, Aurangabad.
With the latest fatality, Aurangabad’s death toll has risen to 14.
At least 34 new cases were reported since Sunday evening to take the district’s cumulative total to 602, said district authorities.
17 new cases in Pune district
Cases continued to mount in Pune district as well with 17 new cases being reported since Sunday to take the district’s tally of cases — including deaths and recoveries — to 2,874, said health officials.
The district’s death toll currently stands at 156, with 138 of these being reported from Pune city, 12 from the rural areas and six from Pimpri-Chinchwad.
As per figures given by the Pune zilla parishad’s Health Department till Sunday evening, there were 1,562 active cases recorded in the district which included 1,329 cases in Pune city, 78 in Pimpri-Chinchwad, and as many as 155 in Pune rural areas.
Speaking to The Hindu on the rise in cases in the district’s rural areas, Pune zilla parishad CEO Ayush Prasad said: “Cases have increased following a measure of relaxation of lockdown rules in the rural areas. The last two days have seen a rise of 17 new cases. Most of these are personnel engaged in essential services who live in Pune city but move around because of the nature of their vocation. These are mainly medical practitioners and other personnel.”
Mr. Prasad further said that steps had immediately been taken to check the spread of the contagion by ensuring that the families of the positive cases were not similarly afflicted.
Taking the new cases into account, the number of active positive patients has risen to 1,579 with 100 of them said to be in a critical condition.
Recoveries on the rise
However, in a heartening development, the numbers of those recovering have also increased with as many as 1,139 persons across the district being discharged till date. On Sunday alone, as many as 194 were discharged from hospitals in Pune city itself and more than 200 from across the district, said officials.
Health officials said that till Sunday, the samples of 23,511 persons had been tested in Pune district of which 19,802 returned negative. A total 2,409 persons were at present kept in quarantine facilities in the district.
Along with Pune’s 156 fatalities, the death toll in Pune division — which includes the districts of Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur and Solapur along with Pune — now stands at 174, with Solapur reporting 14 deaths, Satara district recording two, and Kolhapur and Sangli each had reported one death thus far.
48 new cases in Solapur
Solapur had reported a surge of 48 new cases on Sunday — the district’s single-highest day surge to take its cumulative tally to 264.
According to district administration authorities, nine of the new cases are police personnel.
On May 7, a 58-year-old assistant sub-inspector who was posted at Solapur MIDC and tested positive for the virus succumbed during treatment.
Satara has recorded 119 cases till date, including one from the tourist hill station of Mahabaleshwar, while Sangli and Kolhapur have reported a total 37 and 18 positive cases respectively.
A total 1,023 persons from Pune division (including Pune district) had been discharged till Sunday evening, said Divisional Commissioner Deepak Mhaisekar.
On Sunday, Maharashtra reported a record single-day high of cases and fatalities with a surge of 1,943, taking the State’s cumulative tally to 22,171 while 53 new deaths saw the toll climbing to 832.
