COVID-19: Cases climb across MMR and Maharashtra; deaths go up too

Health workers test a passenger at Dadar on Wednesday. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

Mumbai on Wednesday recorded 721 COVID-19 cases, one of the highest numbers in the past two months. Cases across the state, too, have been rising with Pune, Akola becoming COVID-19 hotspots with over 1,000 fresh cases. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) registered a surge in cases in Thane, Navi Mumbai and Kalyan-Dombivli.

After dipping below 500 on Tuesday, daily cases crossed 700 on Wednesday. The last time cases were this high was in the first week of December 2020. In the first week of February, average cases were 400. They started increasing last Wednesday and undid the gains of the past two months in a week.

On Wednesday, 18,685 tests were conducted in the city, much above the average of 16,000 in the previous week, with 741 tests returning positive and the Test Positivity Rate being 3.9 per cent. There have been only four instances when the city conducted over 18,600 tests. The number had crossed 25,000 in December amid the fear of a new strain.

MMR registered 1,237 cases with Thane having 113, Navi Mumbai 91, and Kalyan-Dombivli having 131 cases. The death toll in the region increased to 12 with Kalyan-Dombivli registering five deaths. Mumbai registered three deaths. All patients had comorbidities and were above the age of 60 years.

The state recorded 4,787 cases, of which Pune Circle had 1,013, Akola Circle had 1,041. Pune city with 443 and Amravati with 395 had the maximum cases. Nagpur city registered 453, Kolhapur and Latur circle reported less than 100 cases each. With nine deaths in Akola and seven deaths in Kolhapur, the death toll reached 40 in the state. Cumulative cases in the state are 20.76 lakh and the recovery rate has slightly decreased to 95.6 per cent. Meanwhile, 3,853 patients recovered and active patients increased to 38,000 after touching a low of 30,000.