Maharashtra's Covid caseload grows by 4,057, death toll by 67

Mumbai: Maharashtra reported 4,057 coronavirus positive cases on Sunday, which took the state's infection tally to 64,86,174, while the death of 67 patients pushed the toll to 1,37,774, the health department said.

A total of 5,916 patients recuperated during the day, taking the recovery count to 62,94,767.

There are 50,095 active COVID-19 cases in the state, the department said in a statement.

So far, 5,48,54,018 people have been tested across the state.

Maharashtra's recovery rate is 97.05 per cent now and the fatality rate is 2.12 per cent, it said.

Mumbai reported 495 cases and two deaths on Sunday, which took its tally to 7,46,341 and toll to 15,993.

Mumbai division, which comprises the city and its satellite townships, reported 985 cases and five deaths. With this, the caseload of the region rose to 16,68,415 and death toll to 35,078.

Nashik division recorded 781 new cases, including 652 in Ahmednagar district, while Pune division logged 1,728 cases, including 517 in Satara district, 364 in Solapur district and 426 in Pune district.

Kolhapur division reported 356 cases, Aurangabad division 23, Latur division 142 cases, Akola division 18 and Nagpur division reported 24 cases during the day, the department said.

The coronavirus figures in Maharashtra are as follows: Positive cases 64,86,174, death toll 1,37,774, recoveries 62,94,767, total number of tests 5,48,54,018, active cases 50,095.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said the easing of COVID-19 restrictions in the state will be based on the availability of oxygen and it was "up to the people to prevent or invite a 'third wave' of the pandemic".

Inaugurating a virtual medical conference, Thackeray asked political parties to refrain from indulging in politics and demanding reopening of places where crowds cannot be avoided.

Medical practitioners from various parts of the state as well as state COVID-19 task force members attended the virtual conference.

"Don't play with the lives of people. Hold agitations, but against COVID-19. It is up to us to prevent a third wave or invite it," the chief minister said.

He claimed Maharashtra is the only state which has upgraded its health infrastructure to tackle the pandemic "like no other country has done".

"We are only falling short of oxygen production, which takes a little longer. At present, our daily oxygen production is around 1,200 to 1,300 metric tonne which is used for industrial as well as medical purposes. For the industrial purpose, oxygen is required in steel, glass and pharma sectors. We need 150 metric tonne daily for non-COVID-19 patients and 200 metric tonne for COVID-19 patients," he said.

During the second wave of COVID-19, the state required 1,700 to 1,800 metric tonne oxygen daily, which it had to procure from other states, the CM said.

Thackeray said he has given instructions to increase the oxygen production in the state to 3,000 metric tonne from the present 1,400 metric tonne.

"But, that will take time. We may not get enough oxygen from other states if the number of cases there increase," he said.

The chief minister said even though the second wave of COVID-19 is "under control", there is a slight increase in the number of daily cases in the last few days.

"We have to avoid crowding...have patience. We should not be required to close the places which have been opened up now," he said.

Thackeray said people should know that the "enemy is yet not completely defeated...the thick tail is still there".

The need of the hour is to have a stock of medicines and oxygen, he said, and asked hospitals and clinics to have an audit of their electric equipment.

Maharashtra health secretary Pradeep Vyas in a presentation during the conference said since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic on March 9, 2020, the highest daily spike in the state was 24,886 on September 19 last year.

During the second wave, the highest single day spike was 68,631 on April 18, 2021, he said.

The highest number of active cases during the first wave was 3,09,752 on September 17, 2020 , and during the second wave, the highest number of active cases was 6,99,858 on April 22, 2021.