By PTI
MUMBAI: Maharashtra on Saturday reported 63,282 fresh COVID-19 cases and 802 fatalities, taking the tally of infections to 46,65,472 and the toll to 69,615, the state health department said.
The state had on Friday added 62,919 cases and 828 fatalities.
Mumbai recorded 3,897 new cases and 90 deaths, raising the overall tally to 6,52,368 and the toll to 13,215.
A total of 61,326 patients were discharged from hospitals in Maharashtra during the day, taking the number of recoveries to 39,30,302, a health official said.
Of the 802 fatalities, 438 occurred in the last 48 hours, 178 in the last week, while the rest 186 had occurred in the period before the last week, the official explained.
Maharashtra is now left with 6,63,758 active cases.
With 2,89,006 new tests, the number of samples examined so far in Maharashtra has gone up to 2,73,95,288, the official said.
The number of people in home quarantine came down by 1.49 lakh on Saturday to 40,43,899 from 41,93,686 on Friday.
The number of people in institutional quarantine is 26,420, the health department said.
Maharashtra’s COVID-19 recovery rate stood at 84.24 per cent, while the fatality rate is 1.49 per cent, it said, ading that the case positivity rate is 17.03 per cent.
The Mumbai division, including Mumbai city and satellite towns, recorded 10,581 fresh cases and 160 deaths, taking the caseload to 13,81,460 and the toll to 23,466, the department said.
After Mumbai, 17 people died in Thane and 12 in Navi Mumbai, the department said.
The Nashik division reported 11,291 new cases including 3,192 in Ahmednagar district and 3,115 in Nashik city.
Nashik district added 2,299 infections and Jalgaon district 726, the department said.
Of the 90 fresh fatalities in the Nashik division, 31 occurred in Nashik district, 17 in Ahmednagar city, 15 in Ahmednagar district and 10 in Nashik city.
The Pune division saw 14,551 fresh infections, including 4,268 in Pune city, 3,739 in rural parts of Pune district, 2,291 in Satara district and 2,028 from Solapur district, as per the department.
Of the 145 new fatalities in the Pune division, 49 occurred in Solapur city followed by 39 in Pune city and 25 in Satara district.
The Kolhapur division added 4,052 new cases and 38 deaths, including 14 in Sangli district.
Aurangabad division reported 3,413 fresh infections and 54 fatalities of which 25 occurred in Aurangabad city.
The Latur division added 4,254 infections with 112 fatalities, of which 37 occurred in Osmanabad district, 29 in Beed, 17 in Latur district and 14 in Nanded district, the department said.
The caseload in the Akola division went up by 4,189 cases of which 1,199 and 1,251 cases were reported from Yavatmal and Buldana districts, respectively.
Of the total 69 fatalities in the Akola division, 31 occurred in Yavatmal district and 14 in Amravati district.
The Nagpur division registered 10,951 fresh cases, including 4,787 in Nagpur city and 2,463 in Nagpur district.
This division reported 134 deaths of which 41 occurred in Nagpur city and 24 in Bhandara district.
18 patients died in Wardha district, the official said.
Maharashtra’s coronavirus figures as follows: Total cases 46,65,754, new cases 63,282, deaths 69,615, recoveries 39,30,302, active cases 6,63,758, people tested so far 2,73,95,288.
The state government has decided to set up a separate control room to be manned by senior and retired doctors who will take a call on when to shift the patients in home isolation to hospitals so that their lives can be saved in time.
Directions in this regard were given by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray during his interaction with municipal commissioners from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad on Saturday, as per a statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO).
The CM observed the number of cases has stabilised in the state but the threat is not yet over.
Citing experts, the CM expressed apprehension that the impending third wave of the pandemic may impact children and called for the need to take appropriate measures in advance.
The CM said each municipal limit should ensure independent medical oxygen supply in the next few days.
He also said steps should be taken to prevent the outbreak of monsoon-related ailments while tackling the pandemic.
The CM’s directions to set up a separate control room came when the state task force member Shashank Joshi pointed out that the condition of patients who are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms is deteriorating fast while in home isolation, resulting in a high mortality rate in the state.
He also said the condition of patients in hospitals should be monitored more carefully during the night, and the use of Remdesivir, steroids etc should also be taken care of.
As many as 11,492 people in the 18-44 years age group were vaccinated against COVID-19 in Maharashtra on Saturday, the state public health department said.
Vaccination for those above 18 began on Saturday after the Union government last month decided to open the drive for wider population.
Vaccination for those above 45 was already underway.
Inoculation drive for the new category was carried out in 26 districts of the state and it will begin in all 36 districts from Sunday, said an official release.
People should not visit vaccination centres without registering themselves through Co-WIN app or portal first, the government has said.
On Saturday, Pune topped among 26 districts with 1,316 receiving the jab in the above-18 group, followed by 1,004 in Mumbai.
Gadchiroli (83) and Yavatmal (90) were at the bottom of the chart, data showed.
