Maharashtra sees 47,288 new COVID-19 cases & 155 deaths; 2.07 crore samples tested so far

On Monday, April 6, Maharashtra recorded 47,288 novel coronavirus cases taking the state's COVID-19 tally to 30,57,855. At present, there are 4,51,375 active cases in the state. With 26,252 COVID-19 patients discharged in the day, the number of recovered soared to 25,49,075. With Mumbai recording 9857 cases in the day, it remains a major novel coronavirus hotspot in the state. 

155 deaths — 23 from Nanded, 21 from Mumbai, 12 from Jalna, 11 from Nashik, 10 from Nagpur, 9 each from Thane and Latur, 6 each from Pune and Solapur, 5 each from Amravati and Wardha, 4 each from Nandurbar and Panvel, three each from Raigad, Ahmednagar, Hingoli, Beed and Chandrapur, two each from Yavatmal, Akola, Satara, Jalgaon and Malegaon and one each from Navi Mumbai, Dhule, Sindhudurg, Aurangabad and Parbhani were reported on Monday. Out of the total deaths reported in the day, 90 occurred in the last 48 hours, 39 in the last week and the rest from the period before. Until now, a total of 56,033 persons in the state have died owing to COVID-19. 

So far, 2,07,15,793 samples have been tested for the novel coronavirus in labs operational across the state. While 24,16,981 persons are under home quarantine, 20,115 others have been admitted to institutional quarantine centres. The COVID-19 positivity rate, recovery rate and fatality rate in Maharashtra stand at 14.76 per cent, 83.36 per cent and 1.83 per cent respectively.

COVID-19 vaccination in Maharashtra

On January 3, the Drugs Controller General of India approved COVISHIELD and COVAXIN for restricted emergency use. Manufactured by the Serum Institute of India with technology transfer from Oxford University-AstraZeneca, COVISHIELD is a Recombinant Chimpanzee Adenovirus vector vaccine with its overall efficacy of 70.42 per cent. On the other hand, COVAXIN is a Whole Virion Inactivated Corona Virus Vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with ICMR and NIV. On January 16, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray launched the COVID-19 vaccination drive in the state and inaugurated the vaccination centre at BKC.

Earlier in the day, Thackeray wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lower the age group eligible for vaccination to 25 years old to curb the intensity of the increasing cases in Maharashtra. He exuded confidence in the country overcoming the second COVID-19 wave with the "collective wisdom" and strength of all states. While a total of 71,47,089 persons have been inoculated in Maharashtra so far, 8,21,179 of them have received the second dose of the vaccine too.