Maharashtra reported the highest number of COVID-19 fatalities on Tuesday since its outbreak. 895 people succumbed to the virus in the last 24 hours, taking the toll to 66,179. Meanwhile, the state also reported 66,358 new cases. The cases tally now stands at 44,10,085.
Mumbai witnessed a slight rise in its daily cases on Tuesday. 4,014 new cases and 59 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours. The respective count now stands at 6,35,541 and 12,912. Only 30,428 tests were conducted in the city.
Meanwhile, the recovery rate of the city has increased to 87 per cent. 8,240 COVID-19 patients recovered on Tuesday, taking the count to 5,55,101 so far. The doubling rate has also increased to 68 days and the weekly growth rate has reduced to 1.01 per cent.
However, the surge in COVID-19 cases has continued in Maharashtra for more than two months. the state has recorded more than one-and-a-half million cases (1,530,663) in the past 26 days and the figure is likely to reach close to two million cases by the end of this month.
Officials said the districts contributing to the surge are yet to register decline. Besides, the peak in cases has come late in a few districts. Both have prevented the improvement in average daily cases of the state.
Dr Rahul Pandit, member of the state COVID-19 task force, said it will take around 15 days for the daily numbers of the state to come down. “As per the early trend, the cases in Mumbai have started reducing, but there are many districts in the state that are experiencing a peak in cases in the last few days. As a result, the average daily cases of the state is not declining. The peak in those areas is likely to last for another 15 days. Till then, the state’s daily tally may not come down,” he said.
