A day after crossing the grim mark of 17,000 Covid-19 cases, Maharashtra on Thursday recorded its highest single-day spike of 18,105 infections, taking the count up to 8,43,844. The previous highest jump was 17,433 which were reported just a day before. Meanwhile, the state has reported 391 COVID-19 fatalities, making it third highest so far. The total death toll is 25,586. Along with fresh infections, the number of casualties continues to be highest across states in the country.
Mumbai, meanwhile, continued to report more than 1,000 cases for the eight-time. On Thursday, the city recorded 1,526 cases, which is much higher than the daily number of cases seen in August, which ranged between 900 and 1,400. The total number of cases has now increased to 1,50,095. On June 27, Mumbai reported its highest single-day spike of 2,077 cases.
The COVID-19 death toll of Mumbai has increased to 7,761, with 37 new fatalities being reported in the last 24 hours. The COVID fatality rate still remains at 5.17 per cent which is much higher compared to the State CFR which is 3.03 per cent.
The surge in cases is likely to increase further as a fresh round of relaxations has come into effect from September 2. The state has allowed inter-district travel by removing a mandatory condition of e-pass required for travelling and allowed private passenger buses, minibuses to operate. It has allowed an increase in the workforce in government and private offices between 30% to 50%. It has further allowed hotels, lodges and guesthouses to operate at their full strength.
“The fresh relaxations simply mean withdrawing most of the restrictions. This will allow more people to step out of their homes and expose themselves to the virus and get infected, which is our only concern,” said a senior official from the state health department. “The decision to continue curbs in 19 municipal corporations declared as red zones are fair as they still contribute most of the cases,” he added.
Dr Shashank Joshi, member of COVID-19 Task-force said the coronavirus is predictably unpredictable, both in its virology and the human immune system response it evokes. “Individuals must ensure that they 'SMS' all the time -- Sanitisation, Masking and Social Distancing. Avoiding crowded clusters and poorly ventilated spaces is the key. At eateries, one tends to unmask while eating and in public places, this poses a risk which everyone must be aware of and be careful with. Toilets, especially in public and office spaces, are another focal point of transmission. So everyone has to take care of themselves in COVID times, as we unlock gradually,” he said.
On the other side, more than 6 lakh people recovered and discharged across the state, with 13,988 COVID patients being recovered on Thursday. The recovery rate improved to 72.48%, against the national average of 76.98%.
