Maha Covid-19 cases rise by 5,537, highest in a day; toll is 8,053

MUMBAI: Maharashtra on Wednesday recorded its sharpest single-day jump in Covid-19 cases with 5,537 more infections, taking the count to 180,298. The toll crossed 8,000 to touch 8,053 after the addition of 198 fatalities on Wednesday.

Mumbai saw 1,487 new cases and 75 fatalities, taking the tally to 79,145 and toll to 4,631. The state health department has, however, said of the latest fatalities, 69 are from the past 48 hours, while the remaining 129 are from the past few weeks.

Many district and civic administrations in the state have announced a reimposition of stricter and curfew-like lockdowns for the next eight to 10 days in the backdrop of the sudden spike in cases. Besides the Thane, Mira-Bhayander, Kalyan-Dombivli corporations, districts like Nashik, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg have imposed stricter lockdown norms. In Mumbai, too, police have prevented people from stepping out of the house unnecessarily. Few other districts like Jalgaon are planning such restrictions for a few days to contain the spread of the virus.

In fact, many districts have reported an increased growth rate of cases in rural parts, rather than in urban areas, after activities were opened up on May 22. For instance, in rural Jalgaon, cases rose from 252 on May 21 to 2,652 till Tuesday, while in Aurangabad rural the spike was from 20 cases to 1,011. In Nashik and Solapur rural, cases jumped to 877 and 314 from 113 and 10 respectively. The growth in cases in the corporation areas of these districts was comparatively less, data revealed. Water supply and sanitation minister and Jalgaon’s guardian minister Gulabrao Patil said the social taboo about the virus is making the task of tracing its spread difficult.