COVID-19: Daily cases zoom past 1,600 in Mumbai; Maharashtra crosses 15,000-mark

A senior citizen gets a shot of Covishield on Friday. Pic/Ashish Raje

The surge in COVID-19 infections continued on Friday in Mumbai with over 1,600 new cases being reported from across the city. The figure had remained around 1,500 on Wednesday and Thursday. The test positivity rate, positive results among 100 tests, also climbed up to eight per cent from three per cent in the first week of February.

Across Maharashtra, daily cases have crossed the 15,000 mark. While 56 people succumbed to the Coronavirus in the 24 hours up to Friday morning, Mumbai reported 4 deaths. Though BMC officials insist that most patients are asymptomatic, the continuous rise in daily cases paints a grim picture. Mumbai's 1,646 infections were found from tests on 20,730 samples.

With the recovery of 1,122 patients during the day, the city now has 12,487 active cases. On February 12, the city had 5,296 active patients. While there were only 12 positive cases in Dharavi a month ago, the slum cluster now has 112 patients.

Of the four deaths in the city, three were comorbid. Two patients were below 40 years of age and as many were above 60. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) reported 3,137 cases, including the ones in Mumbai. While Thane recorded 301 cases, Navi Mumbai and Kalyan-Dombivli saw 247 and 428 new infections respectively.

Other than the fatalities in Mumbai, the virus felled seven more people in the MMR. In other regions, Nashik recorded 17 deaths, and Pune, Akola and Nagpur reported seven deaths each.

Of Maharashtra's 15,817 fresh cases, Akola circle reported 1,801, Pune Circle 3,137, Nashik 2,907 and Nagpur, where lockdown-like curbs have been imposed from March 15 to 21, had 2,549 fresh cases.

Meanwhile, the state's recovery rate has dropped below 93 per cent. A total of 11,344 patients were discharged across Maharashtra on Friday, and the number of active cases increased to 1,10,485. The state had around 30,000 active cases in the first week of February.

22,82,191
Total No. of cases in Maharashtra

3,137
Total no. of cases reported in MMR in the last 24 hours up to friday evening

4
No. of deaths in city on Friday (Two were below 40 years of age and as many were above 60 years)

1,122
Patients recovered and discharged in city on Friday

5,57,950
Total No. of people vaccinated

44,264
No. of people vaccinated on Friday [38,455 got first dose and 5,809 second]