Active COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra rise to 2.61 lakh; positivity rate nears 20%

On Thursday, September 10, Maharashtra recorded 23,446 new novel coronavirus cases, propelling the state's COVID-19 tally to 9,90,795. At present, there are 2,61,432 active cases in the state. With 14,253 COVID-19 patients discharged in the day, the number of recovered soared to 7,00,715. 448 deaths were reported on Thursday.  

Until now, a total of 28,282 persons have died owing to COVID-19. So far, 49,74,558 samples have been tested for the novel coronavirus in labs operational across the state. While 16,30,701 persons are under home quarantine, 38,220 others have been admitted to institutional quarantine centres. The COVID-19 positivity rate, recovery rate, and fatality rate in Maharashtra stands at 19.9%, 70.72%, and 2.85% respectively. 

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Novel coronavirus crisis in India

Currently, there are 44,65,863 confirmed novel coronavirus cases in India out of which 34,71,783 patients have been discharged while 75,062 fatalities have been recorded. At present, there are 9,19,018 active cases. A total of 95,735 cases and 1,172 deaths have been reported in the country in the last 24 hours. 

While more than 74% of the active COVID-19 cases are from 9 states, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh contribute 49% of the total active cases. On the other hand, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Delhi, and Andhra Pradesh account for 69% of the total deaths due to the novel coronavirus. With 9,67,349 confirmed COVID-19 cases, Maharashtra continues to be the biggest novel coronavirus hotspot in India. 

Retesting of symptomatic negative cases

Earlier in the day, the Union Health Ministry and the ICMR jointly urged all the states to ensure that all symptomatic negative cases tested by the Rapid Antigen test are mandatorily retested using the RT-PCR test. As per the Ministry of Health, some large states are not following up on the Rapid Antigen test with the RT-PCR test in negative cases. The new directives also apply to asymptomatic patients who develop symptoms within two to three days of testing negative for COVID-19 via the Rapid Antigen testing. The Health Ministry observed that retesting of symptomatic negative cases was essential to ensure that the disease does not spread through their contacts. 

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