Active Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra dip to 18,748

Maharashtra’s count of active Covid-19 cases on Thursday dropped to 18,748, down from the 19,480 on Wednesday and 22,981 on Tuesday.

State surveillance officer Dr Pradeep Awate said the reduction in active infections showed that the Covid-19 pandemic is under control. “The government had been focussing on critical patients, ramping up the number of tests, isolating the patients as well as providing timely medication,” said Dr Awate.

Mumbai has the most active cases at 4,944, followed by Pune and Thane with 3,929 and 3,005 patients respectively. The fourth and fifth positions are occupied by Ahmednagar (2,048) and Raigad (659) respectively.

The number of active cases during the peak of the second wave earlier this year had reached 600,000. For months till Tuesday, Pune was leading in the number of active cases, followed by Thane. The third position had been alternatively held by Mumbai, followed by Ahmednagar and Satara in recent months. However, on Wednesday, Mumbai overtook Pune in terms of active cases.

Dr Ishwar Gilada, secretary-general, Organised Medicine Academic Guild, said there is nothing to panic if Mumbai has the highest number of active cases.

“Since we have less than 500 new patients daily in Mumbai, we are doing well in containing the virus. We should ideally rejoice with masks,” said Dr Gilada. “However, we need to be cautious and adhere to Covid-19 appropriate behaviour,” he added.

Maharashtra on Thursday recorded 1,418 Covid-19 new cases and 36 deaths.

Mumbai recorded 324 new cases and six deaths, with its toll reaching 16,235. The total number of Covid-19 patients right from the outbreak last year has now reached 6,607,954.

There were 114,099 tests done on Thursday, while the number of recoveries clocked 2,112. The death toll has now reached 140,134 with Pune leading with 19,585 deaths, followed by Mumbai with 16,235 and Thane with 11,443.