COVID-19: 12 flyers from UK positive, Mumbai cases hover at 500

A passenger`s swab sample is taken for antigen test, at Mumbai Central station on Tuesday. Pic/Bipin Kokate

Amid growing concerns over the new COVID strain in the UK, a dozen flyers from the country were found positive after arriving in the city in the 24 hours up to Tuesday. Half of them have recovered, said officials.

"Out of the 12 passengers, six passengers have recovered which is a good sign. But as a precautionary measure, we have sent the samples of all the patients to National Institute of Virology, Pune, for genome sequencing," said Suresh Kakani, a BMC additional commissioner.

Mumbai recorded 537 cases, a little less than the previous day, while infections across Maharashtra went up by 500. The state reported 3,018 cases and 68 people were felled by the coronavirus. Across the state, 5,562 patients recovered and were discharged during the 24-hour period.

In Mumbai, six patients lost the fight against the contagious disease. All of them had comorbidities or other health complications. The victims were above 60 years of age, said BMC's health officials.

Across the city, 486 patients recovered from COVID and were discharged. The recovery rate in Mumbai has stabilised at 93 per cent. There are 8,186 people who are down with the infection at the moment, said officials.

Of the 3,000-plus cases in Maharashtra, 992 were reported in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region which includes Mumbai. In other areas, 642 cases were found in Pune region and 505 in Nashik circle.

In MMR, besides Mumbai, Thane registered the most-118-cases. There were three deaths reported in MMR excluding Mumbai. Pune has reported 24 deaths. The cumulative number of cases in the state so far stand at 19.25 lakh, while the recovery rate of Maharashtra is at 94.5 per cent. In the 24 hours up to Tuesday, 5,572 patients recovered and the number of active cases in the state stood at 54,537.