Cases dip...

“The lifting of the lockdown policy has been well thought through… The relaxations will be announced in advance to avoid panic,” said Mehta, hinting that the state may not see all lockdown curbs being lifted after May 31.

Mehta said relaxations in municipal corporations like Nashik, Dhule, Jalgaon and Amravati were not given in the fourth phase although they had less number of cases because the health infrastructure there was not enough to handle the surge after relaxations. “Ninety-five per cent of cases are in 25 municipal corporations and while restructuring red zones for the fourth phase of the lockdown, we narrowed down these areas to ensure that limited geographical area was under curbs,” he said.

The month of May saw 44,260 cases and 1,333 deaths in Maharashtra. These included 25,913 cases and 775 deaths in Mumbai. This effectively means 80.83% cases and 74.39% deaths in the state have been recorded in the past 26 days. The first case of Covid-19 in the state was reported on March 9. After having crossed 25,000 cases on May 13, the next 5,000 cases in the state were reported in just three days. The 40,000-mark was breached on May 21, in just five days, and another 5,000 were added in just two days. The 50,000-mark was crossed on May 24, in just a day. On May 9, the state tally had touched 20,220. The state took 53 days for its first 10,000 cases.

Mehta, meanwhile, said the mortality rate in the state has sig