State’s case count goes up to 29,100; govt calls for lockdown extension

MUMBAI: Maharashtra’s coronavirus case count went up to 29,100 with the addition of 1,576 infections on Friday, as the state government said it is in favour of extending the lockdown.

India’s worst-affected state accounts for more than 35% of the total cases in the country. The worst-hit city, Mumbai, reported 933 new cases, its second-highest single-day spike, taking the total to 17,671. The state’s death toll went up to 1,068, including 655 in Mumbai.

Of Friday’s 49 deaths, 34 were in Mumbai, six in Pune, two each in Dhule, Kalyan-Dombivli, Akola city and one each in Panvel, Jalgaon and Aurangabad city. Twenty-two of the patients who died on Friday were above 60 years of age, while 23 were in the age group of 40 to 59 years and the remaining were below the age of 40 years. Thirty-two of them had high-risk comorbidities including diabetes, hypertension and heart ailments.

The state has seen 10,037 cases in seven days, while the deaths reported in this period were 337.

Mumbai reported 5,529 cases and 193 deaths in the past seven days. With an average of more than 1,400 cases a day over the past week, the state is set to cross the 30,000 mark on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the state on Friday submitted its position to the Centre on extending the lockdown, according to officials. The state is in favour of extension with more relaxations in less affected zones, so as to ensure economic activities resume gradually.

“We have already given the nod for industrial activities in green and orange zones with some conditions and are getting good response. A total of 38,287 industrial units with a workforce of 10.66 lakh workers are in operation in the state. With more relaxations for industrial and commercial activities in these two zones, we also expect more commercial activities to resume in red zones too,” said a senior government official.

SATYABRATA TRIPATHY/HT PHOTO Health care workers at Dharavi, ahead of screening residents.