Coronavirus Update- Maharashtra Crosses 1 Lakh Mark Leaving Canada Behind For COVID-19

Ninety-six days after the first case of coronavirus was reported on March 9, Maharashtra crossed the one lakh-mark on Friday.

With 3,493 new cases and 127 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, the tally is 1,01,41 cases and 3,717 deaths. Health officials have attributed these numbers to greater testing and lockdown relaxation.

The previous single-day highs were 3,607 cases on June 10 and 3,254 cases on June 9. For the third consecutive day, Maharashtra has reported more than 3,000 cases; in fact, in the last three days, 10,354 cases and 428 deaths have been reported. While the first 50,000 cases were reported in 77 days, the remaining were reported in just 21 days, said an official.

Meanwhile, 223 cases from the BMC region and 140 cases from the Thane district are currently being processed, the data will be updated on the ICMR portal after verification, he added.

Ninety of the 127 deaths were reported in Mumbai, followed by 12 in Pune, 11 in Thane, three each in Kalyan-Dombivli and Sangli, two each in Nashik and Aurangabad and one each in Mira-Bhayandar, Vasai-Virar, Dhule and Amravati.

Dr Archana Patil, additional director, state health department, said relaxation in lockdown could not be the sole reason for the rise in cases. “There could be several other factors, such as increase in testing capacity and better screening, among others. We need to study all reports before we can come to a conclusion.”

Mumbai clocked the highest number of fatalities, for the third day in a row, with 90 more deaths, pushing its toll to 2,044. The city also recorded 1,366 new cases, taking its tally so far to 55,451.

According to civic data, 99 per cent of the 1,163 Covid-19 ICU beds are occupied. Doctors agree a surge in deaths is to be expected when the city has run out of ICU beds. “Covid is a very resource-intensive disease to treat. We can build ICUs overnight, but how will BMC create the expertise overnight?” a doctor questioned.

Dr Om Shrivastav, infectious diseases expert and member of the state task force for Covid-19, said cases were increasing due to transfer of infection from person to person, which means community transmission. “Cases are projected to be more than 3,000 every other day. Also, more people are being tested now and the lockdown relaxation is playing an important role in this surge in numbers,” he said.