Maharashtra sees record spike of 18,105 COVID-19 cases, recovered toll at 6.12 lakh

With record 18,105 people testing positive for Coronavirus in the last 24 hours, Maharashtra's tally of confirmed cases rose to 8,43,844 on Thursday, the state health department said. The state has recorded over 10,000 cases daily for over a week.

The number of recovered patients rose by 13,988 in the same period, taking the aggregate of recovered cases to 6,12,484. The Recovery Rate in the state now stands at 72.58%, as against the national average of 77.09%.

The state's Coronavirus death toll reached 25,586 after 391 patients succumbed to the highly infectious respiratory disease. Out of the 391 deaths reported today, 268 are from the last 48 hours and 64 are from last week. Rest 59 deaths are from the period before last week. Out of these 59 deaths, 15 occurred in Nagpur, 11 in Pune, 9 in Thane, 5 in Sangli, 3 in Palghar, 3 in Osmanabad, 2 in Aurangabad, 2 in Jalgaon, 2 in Nandurbar, 2 in Parbhani, 1 in Akola, 1 in Amaravati, 1 in Jalna, 1 in Kolhapur and 1 in Satara. Maharashtra's case fatality rate (CFR) now stands at 3.03%, while it is 1.75% for India.

As of September 3, there are 1,98,523 active cases in Maharashtra, the highest of any other State in the country.

Currently, 14,27,316 people are under home quarantine and 36,745 people in institutional quarantine. Out of 43,72,697 laboratory samples, 8,43,844 have been tested positive (19.29%) for COVID-19 till date.

India's auto and educational hub, Pune, has reported the highest number of active Coronavirus cases of 54,838. So far, 4,238 people have died while 1,27,046 have recovered in the district. Fears have risen over fresh infection spurt in Maharashtra's densely populated urban clusters like Mumbai and Thane, having reported 1,50,095 and 1,37,244 respectively.

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CM takes stock of situation

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday said even though there have been demands to reopen temples and other places of worship as part of the 'Unlock' process, his government is exercising caution on the issue. Thackeray's comments came in the wake of demands from the main opposition BJP and other parties that places of worship be re-opened since coronavirus-enforced restrictions are being eased under the "Unlock" process.

Thackeray was speaking at a meeting held to review the COVID-19 situation in Western Maharashtra. He said the recent spurt in COVID-19 cases in Satara, Sangli, and Kolhapur districts was a cause of concern and added that the focus of authorities has now shifted from the Mumbai- Thane region to these places in Western Maharashtra.

Thackeray said the present times are challenging and now after rains, the administration will have to ensure the safety of citizens during upcoming festivals like Navratri, Dussehra, and Diwali. He said 'chase the virus mission' should be vigorously pursued and sought the co-operation of citizens in the fight against COVID-19 which has already infected more than eight lakh people in Maharashtra.

(PTI Photo)

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