Mumbai, (Samajweekly) Maharashtra on Monday recorded 36 new Covid-19 deaths, lower than Sunday’s high of 53, with the number of positive cases zooming past 23,000, health officials said here.
With 36 fatalities, the death toll shot up to 868 and the total number of coronavirus patients increased to 23,401, with a jump of 1,230 cases.
Of the total deaths, 20 were recorded in Mumbai, as well as one of a person hailing from Uttar Pradesh – taking the city’s toll to 528 and the number of Covid-19 positive patients in the city shot up by 782 to 14,521.
Dharavi slum alone continued to be a major hotspot in Mumbai, notching 57 new cases, taking the total number of patients to 916, and 29 deaths till now.
Besides Mumbai, 5 deaths were notched in Solapur, 3 in Pune, two in Thane, and one each in Aurangabad, Amravati, Nanded, Wardha and Ratnagiri.
They comprised 23 men and 13 women, and nearly 75 percent of them suffered from other serious ailments such as diabetes, hypertension, heart problems and asthma.
Meanwhile, with policemen also facing the disease’s brunt, Star India and Project Mumbai on Monday donated 10,000 khaki coloured personal protective equipment to Mumbai Police.
Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh this morning took to the streets and paid a visit to personnel on duty in the Mumbai North Region, comprising a vast area from Dahisar to Malad.
He met and interacted with the force, enquired after their well-being and their requirements even as the city police have been getting infected in large numbers besides at least six deaths so far.
In another morale-booster, a policeman from Sahar Police Station who was under treatment for Covid-19 at the Seven Hills Hospital, recovered fully and was given a warm welcome by his colleagues.
Maharashtra Minister Jitendra Awhad, who was in quarantine and later hospitalised after he was found positive, also returned home on Sunday.
He tweeted that though he has recovered, he was still feeling weak and would remain at home for a few more days before resuming his duties.
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region (Thane Division) continued to cause huge concerns with 566 Covid-19 deaths and 17,661 patients.
Pune Division trails a distant second with 176 fatalities and 3,206 patients.
The next area of concern is Nashik Division with 64 deaths and 1,015 positive cases, followed by Aurangabad with 15 fatalities and 660 patients, Akola Division with 25 deaths and 368 patients, Kolhapur Division with 4 deaths and 104 patients, Latur Division with 5 fatalities and 80 cases, and finally Nagpur Division with 3 deaths and 266 patients.
On the positive side, 587 more fully cured patients returned home, taking the number of those discharged to 4,786 till date, which is a very encouraging sign, said Health Minister Rajesh Tope.
Meanwhile, the number of people shunted in home quarantine increased to 248,301 and those in institutional quarantine up to 15,192, while the state’s containment zones increased from 1,237 to 1,256 on Monday.
As many as 12,027 teams have carried out a survey of a population of around 53.7 lakhs in the state till date.
