The Covid-19 situation in Maharashtra turned into a crisis on Wednesday, as the daily infections jumped to an alarming tally of 26,538 cases – of which Mumbai accounted for staggering 15,166 cases.
Taking serious cognisance of the worsening Covid-19 situation in the state, the Maharashtra Government ordered the closure of all non-agricultural, technical, deemed or private universities and their affiliated colleges and students hostels till February 15.
The move came after Higher & Technical Education Minister Uday Samant held a virtual conference with the Divisional Commissioners, Collectors and Vice-Chancellors of various non-agricultural universities. “Considering the safety and health concerns of the students, all colleges and universities have agreed to conduct the classes as well as the upcoming examinations online,” the minister said.
With 26,538 fresh cases reported on Wednesday, the total number of Covid-19 cases went up from 67,30494 cases to 67,57,032 cases.
Simultaneously, 144 Omicron cases were reported from various parts of the state taking the total number of Omicron cases detected in the state to 797.
Of the 144 Omicron cases, Mumbai accounted for a maximum of 100 cases, followed by eleven cases in Nagpur, seven cases each in Thane and Pune, six cases in Pimpri-Chinchwad, five cases in Kolhapur, two cases each in Amravati, Ulhasnagar, Bhiwandi-Nizampur and one case in Panvel and Osmanabad.
After 15,166 Covid-19 positive cases detected in Mumbai, the total number of cases detected so far in Mumbai went up to 8,33,628.
As 5331 patients were discharged from the hospitals across the state after full recovery, the total number of people discharged from the hospitals since the second week of March last year increased from 65,18,916 to 65,24,247. The recovery rate in the state dropped from 96.86 per cent to 96.55 per cent.
The number of “active cases” in the state increased from 63,308 to 87,505 cases The fatality rate in the state dropped from 2.1 per cent to 2.09 per cent.
Mumbai accounted for a maximum of 61,923 active cases, while there were 11,262 active cases in Thane. There were 5617 active cases in Pune, followed by Raigad (2087), Palghar (1839), Nashik (1043), Nagpur (696), Ahmednagar (433) and Satara (422).
Of the 6,97,77,007 samples sent to various laboratories across the state so far, 67,57,032 have tested positive (9.68 per cent) for COVID-19 until Wednesday.
Currently, 5,13,758 people are in home quarantine while 1,366 people are in institutional quarantine.
Meanwhile, the State recorded 144 cases of Omicron, taking the total number of new Covid-19 variant cases to 797 cases. All patients have been reported by the National Institute of Virology (NIV).
The following is the break-up of a total 653 Omicron cases recorded in the state so far, Mumbai: 508, PMC-78, Pimpri-Chinchwad—44, Thane –29, Pune rural --26, Nagpur –24, Panvel –17, Havi Mumbai,Kolhapur –10 each, Satara-8, Kalyan Dombivli —7 each, Osmanabad – 5 Vasai-Virar-4, Nanded, Amravati, Ulhasnagar —3 each, Aurangabad, Buldhana, Mira-Bhayandar Sangli, Sangli --2 each, Latur, Ahmednagar, Akola and Raigad—1 each.
Of the total cases 330 patients have been discharged after a negative RT–PCR test.
In a related development, the authorities said the total number of passengers who arrived at Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur airports since December 1 was 234420 (34,108 from At-risk countries and rest 200312 are from other countries), while passengers whose RT-PC tests have been done are 68629 (34108 are from high-risk countries and 24,521 are from other countries). Similarly, RT-PCR positive and samples sent for genomic sequencing was 673 ( 337 are from at-risk countries and 336 are from other countries).
Additionally, field surveillance of all international passengers who have arrived since 1st November is underway.
“Through airport and field surveillance, 2641 samples have been sent for genomic sequencing. The results of 102 are awaited so far,” the daily health bulletin said.