Mumbai: Eight-eight new cases of coronavirus were reported in the state on Thursday, taking the total number to 423 in Maharashtra. Meanwhile the death toll rose to 21, with four deaths being recorded in Mumbai and one in Pune.
According to the state health department, 54 of the 88 new cases are in Mumbai, 11 from Pune, nine each from Navi Mumbai and Ahmednagar, two from Aurangabad and one each from Buldana, Satara and Osmanabad.
So far, 42 persons have fully recovered in the state. “Mumbai reported 17 coronavirus cases and four deaths on Thursday, while the remainder 37 were recorded since Wednesday evening and updated by the BMC,” said health officials.
A 61-year-old man admitted to Nair Hospital on March 31 for blood cancer who succumbed to his illness on April 1, had tested positive for corona. On Wednesday, two 58- year-old men, one from Dharavi and the other, who was in a private hospital died, while a 63-year-old at Kasturba Hospital diedon Thursday.
“All these deaths were reported in Mumbai; however, none of these patients had any history of international travel. All were contact-traced and tested positive for corona.
All these patients were also suffering from comorbidities,” said an official. Currently, 280 positive corona cases and 18 deaths have been reported from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), of which 235 are from Mumbai and 45 from Navi Mumbai. “The new patients who tested positive for corona did not have any travel history. All of them are close contacts of infected corona patients,” said a health official.
On Thursday, the secretary of an upscale residential highrise on Forjett Street, Tardeo tested positive. Residents of the housing society have been told not to step out of their homes till further action by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
Health experts said, of the total cases reported in Maharashtra, 45 per cent are close contacts of the index patients, while 26 per cent have travel histories. “Until two days ago, of the total confirmed cases in the state, the percentage of the latter category was 38 and those in the former was 26, but now, the proportion has reversed,” he said.
