In a marginal increase in the number of infections and fatalities, Maharashtra on Friday recorded 155 more deaths and 5640 fresh infections, even as State Health Minister Rajesh Tope expressed apprehension that the state might also witness a second wave of Covid-19 along the lines of New Delhi.
A day after the Covid-19 deaths shot up to 154 and infections went up marginally to 5,535 in Maharashtra, the state logged 155 deaths and 5640 new infections.
With 155 new deaths, the Covid-19 toll in Maharashtra rose from 46,356 to 46,511. Similarly, with 5640 fresh infections, the total infected cases jumped from 17,63,055 to 17,68,695.
Maharashtra recorded a milestone of sorts as the number of the Covid-19 tests conducted in the state crossed 1 crore figure to touch a figure of staggering 1,00,35,665. Of the 1,00,35,665 samples sent to laboratories, 17,68,695 have tested positive (17.62 per cent) for COVID-19 until Friday.
Talking to media persons at Ratnagiri in coastal Konkan region, Tope said: “In view of the worsening situation in Delhi, we have begun to take necessary precautions to prevent a possible second Covid-19 wave in the state. If there is a second Covid-19 wave in the state, it will prove to be detrimental to the interests of the state. We do not want a second Covid-19 wave in the state. But, there is fear in my mind”.
“In Mumbai, the number of cases is increasing. We need to learn lessons from Kerala and Delhi, where infections are increasing. The increase in the infections has happened in two states because of a lot of people not wearing masks and adhering to social distancing norms,” the State Health Minister said.
Meanwhile, as 6945 more people were discharged from various hospitals the number of people discharged from the hospitals on Friday after full recovery since the second week of March this year went up to 16,42,916 The recovery rate in the state rose marginally from 92.79 per cent to 92.89 per cent.
Of the 155 deaths on Friday, Pune accounted for a maximum of 60 deaths, followed by 15 deaths in Satara, 13 each in Thane and Nagpur and 12 deaths in Mumbai.
In the lower range, there were 8 deaths in Nashik, 7 in Aurangabad, 3 each in Parbhani, Nanded, Yavatmal, 2 each in Raigad, Jalgaon, Sangli, Osmanabad, Beed and Wardha, one death each in Kolhapur, Sindhudurg, Bhandara, Gondia and Chandrapur. In addition, one person from outside the state died in Maharashtra.
With 12 new deaths, the Covid-19 toll in Mumbai went up from from 10,627 to 10,639, while the infections rose by 1,031, triggering a jump in the total infections in the metropolis from 2,72,455 to 273,486.
Meanwhile, the number of “active cases” total cases dropped from 79,738 to 78,272. The fatality rate in the state stood at 2.63 per cent.
Pune district, which continued to be the worst-affected city-district in Maharashtra, saw the total number of cases increase from 3,44,002 to 3,44,750 while the total number of deaths in Pune increased from 7206 to 7266.
Thane district remained in the third spot --after Pune and Mumbai – after the total number of infections rose from 2,33,169 to 2,33,866, while the pandemic toll climbed from 5423 to 5436. Currently, 5,58,090 people are in home quarantine while 4883 people are in institutional quarantine.