Maharashtra sees 2,956 new Covid cases in a day; active tally tops 18,000

Maharashtra on Tuesday recorded 2,956 fresh cases of COVID-19, further adding to a surge that started a few weeks ago, and four new deaths linked to the infection, while the active tally crossed the 18,000-mark, the health department said.

With these additions, the state's COVID-19 tally reached 79,15,418, while the death toll increased to 1,47,875, the department said in a bulletin. On Monday, the state had recorded 1,885 cases and one fatality. The bulletin said 2,165 patients recovered from the infection in the last 24 hours, taking their cumulative count to 77,49,276 and leaving the state with 18,267 active cases.

The coronavirus recovery rate in the state stood at 97.90 per cent. Nandurbar is the only district with no active case of COVID-19 as of now. Two patients of BA.5 sub-variant (of Omicron strain) of SARS-CoV2, which causes COVID-19, were reported from Thane, the bulletin said. One of the patients is a 25-year-old woman and the other is a man aged 32 and they have been vaccinated against coronavirus, it said.

These patients were found to be infected with COVID-19 on May 28 and 30 and both of them recovered in home isolation, the department said. According to information given by Pune's B J Medical College, in WGS (whole genome sequencing) of recent samples in the state, BA.2 (sublineage) was the most prominent variant of COVID-19 followed by BA.2.38, it said. Mumbai recorded 1,724 fresh cases, accounting for a bulk of the statewide infections, and two fatalities linked to the respiratory illness. The remaining two coronavirus-related deaths in the state were reported from Vasai-Virar (located in Mumbai's outskirts) and Satara district, the bulletin said.

The case fatality rate in the state was 1.86 per cent. The bulletin said 36,911 tests were conducted in the state in the last 24 hours for detection of COVID-19, taking their cumulative count to 8,13,83,115. Maharashtra's coronavirus figures are as follows: Total cases 79,15,418; death toll 1,47,875; recoveries 77,49,276; active cases 18,267; total tests 8,13,83,115.