Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said here on Monday that the State had begun to reel under the third Covid-19 wave, even as 33,470 Covid-19 daily infections and 31 Omicron cases were reported from various parts of the state.
Talking to media persons here, Tope said that the state had begun to come under the grip of the Covid-19 wave and it was difficult to predict as to how long it would continue. But it was certain that the state would reel under the third wave for the whole of January.
“The third Covid-19 wave started. We do not know when the third wave will peak. The number of cases has gone up 44,388. The number of cases is increasing now. During the second wave, we used to record 65,000 cases every day. It is difficult to predict what would be the number of daily cases when the third wave peaks in the state. Experts are predicting that the third wave may peak by the end of this month,” Tope said.
Meanwhile, the daily Covid-19 cases dropped from 44,388 on Sunday to 33,470 on Monday, taking the total number of cases recorded 69,20,044 to 69,53,514 cases. As many as 8 Covid-19 deaths were reported from various parts of the state.
Meanwhile, the State recorded 31 cases of Omicron, taking the total number of new Covid-19 variant cases to 1247 cases. All the 31 cases were reported by the National Chemical Laboratory.
As 26,671 Covid-19 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 2020 increased from 65,72,432 to 66,02,103. The recovery rate in the state dropped from 94.98 per cent to 94.95 per cent.The number of “active cases” in the state increased from 2.02,259 cases to 2,06,046. The fatality rate in the state dropped from 2.04 per cent to 2.03 per cent.
Of the total recorded cases, Mumbai accounts for a maximum of 1,03,862 active cases, while there are 45,801 active cases in Thane. There are 22,290 active cases in Pune, followed by Raigad (8,038 Palghar (7268), Nashik (4465), Nagpur (3345), Satara (1402), Ahmednagar (1306) and Aurangabad (856)Of the 7,07,1888888,911 samples sent to various laboratories across the state so far, 69,53,514 have tested positive (9.83 per cent) for COVID-19 until Monday.
Currently, 12,46,729 people are in home quarantine while 2505 people are in institutional quarantine.
Meanwhile, the following is the break-up of a total 1247 Omicron cases recorded in the state so far, Mumbai: 606, PMC-251, Pimpri-Chinchwad—69, Sangli –59, Nagpur -51, Thane –48,, Pune rural --34, Kolhapur -18, Panvel –17, Osmanabad –11, Navi Mumbai and Satara –10 Covid each, Amarvati –9, Kalyan Dombivli —7, Buldhana and Vasai-Virar- 6 each, Bhiwandi-Nizampur and Akola-5 each, Nanded, Ulhasnagar, Aurangabad, Mira-Bhayandar and Gondia –3 each, Ahmednagar, Gadchiroli, Latur andNandurbar—2 each, Jalna and Raigad—one each. Of the total cases 467 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 2,59,527.