Mumbai: There were 122 Covid-19 deaths in Maharashtra on Wednesday, the highest number in a single day, thus far. For the 17th time in 18 days, 2,560 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours, taking the toll to 74,860, including 2,587 deaths until now.
Forty-nine of the 122 deaths were reported in Mumbai, 19 in Pune, 16 in Aurangabad, 10 in Solapur, four in Dhule, three each in Ulhasnagar and Navi Mumbai, two each in Thane, Akola, Jalgaon and Kolhapur and one each in Mira-Bhayandar, Vasai-Virar, Bhiwandi, Ahmednagar, Nandurbar, Jalna and Osmanabad. Three others, residents of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal, died in Mumbai.
Of the total deaths reported on Wednesday, 57 deaths occurred in the last two days, while 65 deaths occurred during the period from April 30 to May 31, which were verified and updated on the ICMR portal on Wednesday, said Dr Pradeep Awate, state surveillance officer.
A health official said that the surge in cases was likely to continue for a few more days, after which numbers were expected to decline. We are concerned that with more lockdown relaxations, more people will step out and get exposed to the virus.
This will ultimately result in a surge in cases. We are already experiencing a rise in cases in districts where there were no cases or were minimal before there were lockdown relaxations in the state on May 20, he said.
According to the public health department of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the city has recorded 1,276 new cases and 49 deaths, taking the total positive count to 43,492 with 1,417 deaths so far.
Dr Daksha Shah, deputy executive health officer, said after the cyclone and rains, there could be a rise in cases of monsoon ailments in addition to coronavirus cases. Citizens are requested to not ignore fever, refrain from selfmedication and all 'high- risk' persons with comorbidities should continue to take their prescribed medicines.
“Watch for any symptoms in the next 7 to 10 days. If there are symptoms like fever with chills, joint pains, rashes, cough, breathlessness, diarrhoea, vomiting, sore throat or jaundice, then immediately visit a nearby dispensary or inform the community health volunteer or consult a doctor,” Dr Shah said. Currently, 82 laboratories in the state are running Covid-19 tests, of which 46 are government-run and 36 are private. Of the 4,97,276 laboratory samples, 74,860 have tested positive until Wednesday. So far, 35,097 people have been kept in institutional quarantine in the state and over 5,70,453 under home quarantine.
