The number of daily COVID-19 tally increased sharply on Tuesday with the state health department recording 17,864 new cases in the last 24 hours. City’s fresh infections also surged to nearly 2,000, prompting the civic administration to instruct the ward officials to activate as many quarantine and isolation facilities as possible.

Daily deaths in the state almost doubled on Tuesday, with officials reporting 87 fatalities, including 10 each in Pune Municipal Corporation and Yavatmal. On Monday, the state had recorded 48 COVID-19 casualties. City’s daily toll, however, remained consistent. Four people were confirmed to have died of COVID-19. BMC officials said all four deceased patients were suffering from other ailments while three were senior citizens.