Sharp drop in no. of new cases in State

Maharashtra witnessed a 25 per cent and 19 per cent drop in corona cases and fatalities respectively on Monday, with 10,244 new infections and 263 deaths reported, increasing the total count to 14,53,653, with 38,347 deaths till now. Meanwhile, the state Covid-19 recovery rate has increased to 80 per cent on Monday, with 12,982 patients being recovered and discharged, taking the total count to 11,62,585 so far.

Of the 263 deaths, 133 were from the past 48 hours, 58 were from last week and the remaining 72 were from the period before. Of the total deaths, 79 in MMR, followed by 51 in Pune, 37 in Kolhapur, 27 in Nagpur, 21 in Akola, 18 in Latur and 15 each in Nashik and Aurangabad.

Mumbai, meanwhile also witnessed a slight drop in corona cases, with 1,836 new infections and 47 deaths on Monday, taking the total count to 2,16,281.

ARD Fresh infections have not gone up in almost two weeks. However, officials said that they have to wait for more time to draw any conclusions as there are chances that cases are likely to rise in the backdrop of fresh relaxations in the lockdown.

However, despite the dip after the surge in the first three weeks of September, state officials said they were wary about a possible rise in cases over the next couple of weeks. “After the inter-district movement was allowed from September 2, there was a sudden spike in the first two weeks. A similar spike is projected over the next couple of weeks after restaurants resume operations from today and running of more local trains [for essential services workers]. However, it would not be as high as last month,” an official said.

The state has reported a steady decline in cases over the past two weeks. The decline has been attributed to concentrated efforts in the districts where cases were high.