Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra show a downward trend, expected to fall further

53 people in the state need hospital care and 23 of them are in the intensive care unit. File Pic

The COVID-19 surge in the state since December has shown a gradual decline in the last few days, with active cases now standing at 579, from more than 800 on January 10. Most of the cases are saturated in Mumbai, Pune, and its neighbouring areas. There were 63 new cases in the state reported on Tuesday with a total of 23 in the city.

Meanwhile, there are 53 individuals in the state in need of hospital care and 23 of them are in the intensive care unit. Since last month, seven deaths in the state were attributed to COVID-19; all of them had pre-existing comorbidities and one of the deceased was from Mumbai.

"There are still cases being reported but the numbers are low. The cases are not exploding at all and it does not look like the cases will suddenly surge," said Dr Rajesh Karyakarte, a member of the state's COVID-19 task force overseeing genomic sequencing. "If the JN.1 variant has reached its peak and the hospital admissions as well as fatalities are low, then we can safely conclude that the variant is not causing much harm to us," he said.

While there have been about 250 cases of JN.1 reported in the state, officials said that this is certainly the variant that is causing the surge. Even as the virus is no longer as virulent (severe) as it was previously. Health experts have time and again said that it is important for the elderly and those with comorbidities or respiratory illnesses to avoid crowding or wear a mask.

"COVID is not going to disappear from our lives but if the cases are not surging rapidly and the virus is not causing any serious illness for most of the population, that's good news for us," he said, adding that the officials are expecting a further decline in daily and active cases but at a very slow pace.

579
No of active cases