Maharashtra's per day COVID-19 growth rate is 0.8 per cent, which is half of the country's average of 1.4 per cent, state Health Minister Rajesh Tope said on Wednesday.
He said that out of 36 states, Maharashtra is at the 30th position in terms of the growth of coronavirus infection.
"Maharashtra's COVID-19 growth rate is merely half of the country's daily growth rate. The state's per day growth rate is 0.8 per cent as against the country's rate of 1.4 per cent. The state is carrying out around two lakh tests on a daily basis while per million testings is around 2.50 lakh. It is a very good sign for us," he said.
Tope, however, cautioned by saying, "The strict measures under the 'Break the Chain' directives introduced by the Maharashtra government have definitely brought down the number of COVID-19 cases, but the curve is not stable yet.
There are some 12-15 districts in the state that have shown a decline in COVID-19 cases," he said.
There are some districts where the number of cases is still a cause of concern for the state, the minister said.
"We need to focus on these districts more. The positivity rate is still not below 10 per cent. These are the reasons why cabinet ministers are in favour of extending lockdown in the state," he added.
The number of active cases had touched almost seven lakh last week, but we managed to bring it down to some five lakhs, he said.
The COVID-19 tally in Maharashtra has gone up to 52,26,710 with 46,781 new cases on Wednesday, while the death toll has reached 78,007.
