Maharashtra reports over 1,000 Covid cases, 9 deaths in 24 hours; 320 infections in Mumbai

Maharashtra on Wednesday witnessed a big spike in the daily Covid-19 cases that crossed the 1,000 mark with 1,115 new infections - out of which 320 cases were reported from Mumbai alone. With this, the state has a total of 5,421 active cases. On Tuesday, Maharashtra had recorded 919 infections in 24 hours.

According to the state health bulletin, nine deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours. The fatality rate in the state stands at 1.82 percent.

A total of 560 patients recovered in a day, taking the recovery rate to 98.11 percent.

The country has been witnessing a massive spike in the daily Covid cases - especially in Maharashtra and Delhi. On Wednesday, India registered a single-day rise of 7,830 new coronavirus infections - the highest in 223 days.

In view of this, Union health ministry had announced nationwide mock drills on Monday and Tuesday to take stock of the preparedness in both public and private hospitals. Health minister Mansukh Mandaviya also urged the states and Union Territories to identify emergency hotspots by checking trends of influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) cases.

Meanwhile, experts have said that the Covid cases in the country are expected to rise for the next 10-12 days, and then will gradually come down, news agency PTI reported citing sources. According to the report, Covid is “heading towards an endemic stage.”