In a significant spike, 10,216 new COVID-19 cases were reported on Friday (March 5) in Maharashtra. This is for the first time this year that over 10,000 COVID-19 cases have been recorded in the state in a single day. The previous highest single-day surge this year was 9,855 on Wednesday, March 3.
Besides, 53 COVID-19 deaths were recorded in the day, taking the death toll to 52,393. The case fatality rate in the state is 2.38%.
6,467 patients were discharged in the day, taking the tally to 20,55,291. The recovery rate in the state stands at 93.52%.
Currently, 4,10,411 people are in home quarantine and 4,203 people are in institutional quarantine.
The total number of active cases in Maharashtra is 88,838.
The Mumbai circle --which consists of MCGM, Thane, TMC, Navi Mumbai, KDMC, Ulhasnagar MC, Bhivandi Nijampur MC, Mira Bhayandar MC, Palghar, Vasai Virar MC, Raigad, Panvel MC--recorded 2135 new cases on Friday.
The Nashik circle--which consists of Nashik, Nashik MC, Malegaon MC, Ahmednagar, Ahmednagar MC, Dhule, Dhule MC, Jalgaon, Jalgaon MC, Nandurbar--reported 1614 fresh COVID-19 cases.
The Pune circle--which includes Pune, PMC, PCMC, Solapur, Solapur MC, Satara--recorded 2070 new cases.
The Kolhapur circle reported 79 new cases, Aurangabad circle 523, Latur circle 249, Akola circle 1472, and Nagpur circle recorded 1974 new COVID-19 cases on Friday.
Officials have stated that most of the new cases were detected in patients who have been socialising in the past month. Suresh Kakani, BMC's additional municipal commissioner (health) on Wednesday said that the spurt in the number of cases began in the second week of February, which is being seen as a result of general laxity, mutation of COVID-19 strains and unlocking.
“We are urging citizens to follow COVID protocols as we do not want the same situation as it was in the month of June, July, and September last year when cases were on the peak. Moreover, we have intensified all our protocols to curb the cases and have alerted all the ward officers to take strict action if the cases in their area have surged,” he said.
He has also directed officers to closely monitor banquet halls and open spaces in their wards to ensure COVID-19 protocols aren't flouted. “Most of the cases are reported from high-rises where citizens recently participated in social gatherings,” Kakani added.
