Maharashtra's active COVID-19 tally tops 51,965; 2037 persons in institutional quarantine

On Saturday, January 16, 2,910 persons tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Maharashtra taking the state's COVID-19 tally to 19,87,678. At present, there are 51,965 active cases in the state. With 3039 COVID-19 patients discharged in the day, the number of recovered soared to 18,84,127. Mumbai continues to be a major novel coronavirus hotspot with 571 new cases recorded in the day. 

52 deaths —  8 each from Mumbai and Solapur, three each from Bhandara, Gondia, Yavatmal, Osmanabad and Nandurbar, two each from Jalgaon, Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad, Ratnagiri, Beed and Nagpur and one each from Chandrapur, Sangli, Nashik, Vasai Virar, Mira Bhayandar, Thane and Navi Mumbai were reported on Saturday. 

Until now, a total of 50,388 persons in the state have died owing to COVID-19. So far, 1,37,43,486 samples have been tested for the novel coronavirus in labs operational across the state. While 2,24,705 persons are under home quarantine, 2037 others have been admitted to institutional quarantine centres. The COVID-19 positivity rate, recovery rate and fatality rate in Maharashtra stand at 14.46 per cent, 94.79 per cent, and 2.54 per cent respectively. 

Read: 191,181 Persons Inoculated On Day 1 Of COVID-19 Vaccination Drive, No Adversities Reported

Read: Congress' Manish Tewari Raises COVAXIN 'efficacy Concerns' Again; Harsh Vardhan Replies

Earlier in the day, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray launched the COVID-19 vaccination drive in the state and inaugurated the vaccination centre at BKC. Out of the total 285 centres in Maharashtra, Mumbai has the highest number of vaccination centres (40) followed by Pune (31) and Thane (23). So far, the state has received 9.63 lakh doses of COVISHIELD and 20,000 doses of COVAXIN. However, the state Health Department announced the suspension of the novel coronavirus inoculation drive in Maharashtra till January 18 owing to technical issues with the CoWIN App. As a result, the state could not meet the intended vaccination target on Saturday. 

COVID-19 vaccination in India

Currently, there are 1,05,42,841 novel coronavirus cases in India out of which 1,01,79,715 patients have recovered while 1,52,093 fatalities have been reported. In a total of 3351 sessions held across India on Saturday, 1,91,181 beneficiaries were inoculated. Manish Kumar, a machine operator at AIIMS’ sanitation department, became the first person in the country to be administered the vaccine. BJP MP Dr. Mahesh Sharma, AIIMS Director Dr. Randeep Guleria and Serum Institute of India CEO Adar Poonawalla were among the prominent personalities to get inoculated.  

Read: In Emotion-laden Speech, PM Modi Flags Off India's Historic COVID-19 Vaccination drive