Coronavirus in Maharashtra: Monday's death toll of 178 takes state's toll to 4,128; 2,786 new cases recorded

Coronavirus in Maharashtra: Monday's death toll of 178 takes state's toll to 4,128; 2,786 new cases recorded

On Monday, 2,786 new cases were recorded, taking the positive count to 1,10,744 until now. Similarly, 5,071 patients recovered and were discharged from various hospitals in the last 24 hours

Swapnil MishraUpdated: Tuesday, June 16, 2020, 08:01 AM IST
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Mumbai: With 178 new Covid fatalities reported on Monday, the highest in a single day so far, the death toll in Maharashtra crossed the 4,000-mark, to stand at 4,128. The previous single-day highest of 153 deaths was reported on June 11. However, after five consecutive days, the number of new corona cases in the state reduced by 17 per cent in the last 24 hours.

On Monday, 2,786 new cases were recorded, taking the positive count to 1,10,744 until now. Similarly, 5,071 patients recovered and were discharged from various hospitals in the last 24 hours. With this, the number of recoveries has surged to 56,049.

Fifty-eight of the 178 deaths were reported in Mumbai, followed by 20 in Vasai-Virar, 14 in Pune, 13 each in Mira-Bhayandar and Dhule, 12 in Navi Mumbai and Thane, nine in Kalyan-Dombivli, seven in Panvel, three in Jalgaon, two each in Solapur and Jalna and one each in Palghar, Raigad and Ratnagiri.

“Twenty-nine of the 178 deaths in the state occurred in the last two days, while the remaining 149 were occurred earlier which was added to the state’s toll only now, after review. According to the health department, in 69.34 per cent of the cases, the victims had comorbidities,” said State Surveillance Officer Dr Pradip Awate.

Mumbai also reported 23.85 per cent fewer new cases, recording 1,066 new cases and 58 Covid-19 deaths in the last 24 hours. The total number of positive cases stand at 59,293 and the number of deaths at 2,248, while 30,125 patients have recovered, 3,139 of whom were discharged in the last 24 hours.

A community-based sero-survey to determine the extent of spread of Covid- 19 in the population was conducted by the Indian Medical Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in 83 districts of the country in May 2020. It included six districts from Maharashtra -- Ahmednagar, Beed, Jalgaon, Parbhani, Nanded and Sangli.

For this survey, blood samples of 40 people from randomly selected 10 groups (400 total) in these districts were tested for the presence of antibodies in blood plasma using the ELISA technique developed by the National Institute of Virology. “We had obtained 2,385 samples, of which only 27 samples tested positive for Covid, which means the positive rate of infection is 1.13 per cent. This shows that the spread of Covid-19 in the general population is minimal and that the lockdown strategy has worked. But this also suggests that most of the population in the state has not developed immunity against COVID-19,” said Dr Awate.

Dr Avinash Supe, former KEM dean and member of the expert committee appointed by the state to recommend steps to curb the spread of the virus, said, to an extent, a rise in the cases should ot be a cause for worry. “There are different trends in different areas of the state. While there is a plateau in some parts of the state, a few areas are emerging as hotspots. As long as we are ready with the infrastructure to handle the cases and treat the patients as per their condition, this should not be a cause for concern,” he said.

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