On Monday, 13th September, Maharashtra added 2740 new Covid-19 cases. It is the lowest single-day cases in over seven months or 219 days. The state also reported 27 deaths in the last 24 hours which is the lowest in 190 days. The media says that there have been lower tests because of the weekend. That’s why they found a number of dips in Covid-19 cases. However, in total too, the state is seeing an overall downward trend.
To be sure, the lowest one-day state figure comes on the back the lowest one-day testing figure since March 22. On that particular day, Maharashtra reported 105,830 cases with 24,645 new cases. It had a positivity rate of 23.29%. However, Monday’s positive rate was 2.54%. But there has been a problem. Ever since the suburban train services were resumed for fully vaccinated people in Mumbai, Covid cases in Mumbai and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) have been on the rise. Although state health department officials are concerned about the rise, they were sure that a pattern would emerge by early October.
On Monday, Mumbai lodged 345 cases and 6 fatalities. It took the tally to 735,400 and the toll to 16,028. The city and its surrounding areas logged over 22% of the state’s total cases on Monday itself. The active case count of the state dropped to 49,880 while the overall positivity rate stood at 11.59%. In the past 24 hours, Maharashtra tested 108,216 samples for Covid which showed a positivity rate of 2.54%. The overall case tally in the state went up to 6,500,617 and the death toll rose to 138,169.
Since Independence Day, the suburban train services have been opened for people who have taken both doses of vaccines by the state government. It completes exactly 30 days on Monday. For the past few days, the number of new Covid cases daily was between 300 to 400. But last week, it reported 500 new cases after a gap of seven weeks. Thane district has seen a rise in cases. Between the dates of July 15 and August 15, the district added 5861 cases. In the past 30 days, it added 7096 cases. This is a 21.07% rise as compared to the previous months.
A state health department official said, “While casers across the state are seeing some gradual dip, cases in Mumbai are stagnant and has also seen an occasional spike. The cases were expected to rise a bit given the curbs were relaxed by the state in mid-August. However, it is not a trend. We will know if the curb is taking an upward trajectory by October first week.”
Collectively, Pune, Solapur, and Satara districts contributed to 35.29% of the total covid cases on Monday. Pune rural areas added 318 new Covid cases, Pune city added 130, Pimpri-Chinchwad added 108 fresh infections. Solapur city added six new cases while the rural areas of the district added 228 cases. In the past 24 hours, Satara gave 177 new cases, Ahmednagar rural areas reported 569 and Sangli saw 191 new cases.
