A 64-year-old man who had tested positive for the coronavirus died in Mumbai on Tuesday, while the number of confirmed patients in Maharashtra rose to 40.
While one person tested positive in Mumbai and another in Pune, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said the public transport in Mumbai, including local trains, will remain operational and government offices too will remain open.
The government will, however, have to take the harsh decision of shutting down train and bus services if people did not avoid non-essential travel, he said.
The government was working on proposal to let government offices function with 50 per cent strength, he said.
Of the 40 coronavirus positive patients in the state (excluding the one who died), 39 are stable and only one is critical, the chief minister said. The confirmed patients included 26 men and 14 women, he added.
The 64-year-old man from Mumbai who died in the morning became the third Covid-19 fatality in the country. He had travel history to Dubai, officials said.
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Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner Praveen Pardeshi said the deceased, admitted to Kasturba Hospital, was suffering from hypertension and pneumonia.
Pardeshi stressed that it would be incorrect to say that the deceased died solely because of Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
"The patient (also) had high blood pressure, pneumonia and inflammation of heart muscles. Increased heart rate led to his death," said a BMC statement.
He had been first admitted in Hinduja Hospital in the city before being shifted to the civic-run Kasturba Hospital.
At 41, Maharashtra has reported the maximum number of Covid-19 cases in the country.
A 49-year-old man in Mumbai who had returned from the United States on March 7 and a 26-year-old man in Pune who had returned from the US on March 14 tested positive on Tuesday.
Though the chief minister said government offices had not been closed, visitors were not allowed to enter some government offices in Mumbai on Tuesday morning.
In view of the virus scare, the government suspended the use of breath-analyser by police for testing drunk driving.
Among the 40 patients being treated for Covid-19, the highest number (10) is from Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation near Pune which is home to several IT professionals who frequently visit the US and European countries for work.
BMC and Pune Municipal Corporations have reported seven patients each while four patients are being treated in Nagpur.
Navi Mumbai, Yavatmal and Kalyan Dombivali Municipal corporations have reported three patients each while one patient each is being treated at Thane, Raigad, Ahmednagar and Aurangabad. Besides there are 105 suspected patients hospitalised in various cities.
There are 502 beds ready in isolation wards across the state, an official statement said, adding that mandatory 14- day follow-up of 442 people out of 1,169 who returned from abroad was complete.
Meanwhile, cracking the whip on misinformation, the Maharashtra Medical Council issued a notice to a Mumbai-based doctor who had termed the virus as a "Chinese fad" which will not survive in the Indian summer. It sought explanation from Dr Anil Patil whether he has any study to back his claims.
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