In the sharpest spurt since lockdown started, Maharashtra notched a staggering 302 Covid-19 positive cases with the highest number from Mumbai, officials said here on Tuesday.
In the past 24 hours, the number of cases skyrocketed from 259 to 302 -- an increase of 43 cases.
The total positive cases stood at: 151 in Mumbai, 48 in Pune, 36 in Thane region, 25 in Sangli, Nagpur 16, Ahmednagar 8, Yavatmal 4, Buldhana 3, 2 each in Satara and Kolhapur, one each in Aurangabad, Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri, Gondia, Jalgaon, Nashik, besides one from Gujarat.
The state has 10 Covid-19 deaths, including 8 in Mumbai, and one each in Pune and Buldhana, including the state's youngest victim, a 40-year old suburban home-maker with no history of foreign travel, and a medico in his early-80s, said Health Minister Rajesh Tope.
As per latest official data, so far 39 persons have fully recovered and discharged to go home, while 23,914 people are in home quarantine, 1,434 in institutional isolation across the state.
According to officials, one of the reasons for the huge increase in cases today is attributed to the Mumbai population density, especially in sprawling dingy slums with tiny tenements which make up half of the country's commercial capital.
The slums house millions of people eking out an existence in cramped quarters, with common sanitation facilities, insufficient water supply, no open spaces or greenery, making them a potentially fertile ground for diseases with little or no scope for 'social distancing'.
From residents washing their floor as precaution method to BMC sealing few places, here is how Mumbai looked on Tuesday.
Mumbai Traffic Police makes violaters do sit-ups for coming out of their homes during lockdown. | BL Soni
Mumbai Traffic Police makes violaters do sit-ups for coming out of their homes during lockdown. | BL Soni
Mumbai Traffic Police makes violaters do sit-ups for coming out of their homes during lockdown. | Salman Ansari
BL Soni
fire brigade personnel sanitize Machimar Colony in Mahim. | Bhushan Koyande
Residents of Shivneri building cleaning their floor by soap water as a preventive measure from coronavirus disease at Dadar on Tuesday. | Bhushan Koyande
BL Soni
Prabhadevi Railway station area sealed. | BL Soni
Mahim Dargah sealed on Tuesday. | BL Soni
A man reading a book while sleeping during lockdown. | Salman Ansari
A guard checking intoh his phone at CST. | Bhushan Koyande