Maharashtra, along with Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Punjab, continues to drive up India’s active cases. They collectively account for 71.10 per cent of the 28,903 new cases in the last 24 hours. Further, 83.91 per cent of the new cases are from Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
A day ago, union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, in a strongly worded letter to the state Chief Secretary Sitaram Kunte, had said that Maharashtra is staring at the start of a second wave. The Health Ministry said that the state alone accounts for 61.8 per cent of the daily new cases with 17,864 cases. It is followed by Kerala with 1,970 cases and Punjab with 1,463 new cases. Of the total fatalities between March 1 and March 17, 45.4 per cent deaths alone are in Maharashtra.
India’s total active caseload stands at 2.34 lakh (2,34,406) today, comprising 2.05 per cent of the total cases. Maharashtra, Kerala and Punjab account for 76.4 per cent of the country’s total active cases, with Maharashtra alone contributing nearly 60 per cent to it.
In all, 188 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours. Six states account for 86.7 per cent of the new deaths. Maharashtra saw the maximum casualties (87). Punjab follows with 38 deaths and Kerala with 15 deaths.
Further, the Health Ministry has said that the situation in 13 of the total 36 districts in Maharashtra is of serious concern, especially due to the rise in the number of cases from March 1 to March 15. In Nanded, there is a record 385 per cent change in COVID-19 cases, followed by Nandurbar at 224 per cent, Beed at 219 per cent, Dhule at 169 per cent, Nashik at 157 per cent, Jalgaon at 147 per cent, Bhandara at 140 per cent, Nagpur at 122 per cent, Chandrapur at 95 per cent, Ahmednagar at 72 per cent, Buldhana at 65 per cent, Aurangabad at 58 per cent and Akola at 20 per cent.
India’s cumulative recoveries stand at 1,10,45,284 today. The national recovery rate is 96.56 per cent. However, the recovery rate in Maharashtra is 91.26 per cent and the fatality rate is 2.24 per cent.
The central government has reiterated that the state should step up its efforts to track, test and isolate cases and quarantine contacts and focus on adherence to the COVID-19 protocol both in rural and urban areas.
