MUMBAI: With an addition of 40,805 fresh cases, Maharashtra's Covid-19 case tally went past the 75 lakh grim mark on Sunday. The state has contributed to 19% of India's case load of 3.9 crore cases.
The fresh detections on Sunday were a 12% drop compared to the previous day. The slump, though, can be attributed to fewer tests carried out during the weekend compared to weekdays. The Pune region that is driving the wave now contributed to 37% of the new cases, whereas MMR's share dropped to 16%.
Mumbai continued to see a steady slide in cases. On Sunday, the city reported 2,550 new detections, not just a 29% drop compared to Saturday but the lowest tally for 2022. Compared to the third wave's peak of 20,971 recorded on January 7, the decline is 88%. Importantly, Mumbai's daily positivity rate dropped to 5% after touching a dizzying 29% about 10 days ago. While the state's cumulative tally touched 75,07,225, Mumbai's Covid case total reached 1,03,3915.
Dr Shashank Joshi, a member of the state Covid taskforce, said Mumbai is clearly past the peak. "The cases are consistently on a decline and so are the hospitalisations in Mumbai. Whereas Pune is most likely nearing the peak," he said. Dr Joshi, however, cautioned that there is no clarity whether the sudden drop in temperature and the dust storm will impact transmission in Mumbai.
In another positive sign, daily Covid-19 hospitalisations dropped to a 21-day low in the city. On Sunday, 337 people were admitted to various hospitals for Covid, a 30% drop compared to the previous day. The city recorded its peak hospitalisation on January 7, when 1,395 people got hospitalised on a single day. Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner, said that nearly 90% of the Covid beds are empty.
A total of 44 Covid deaths were reported in the state, including 13 from Mumbai, 13 from Pune circle and eight from MMR. The state's toll stood at 1.42 lakh while that of city's was at 16,535. The civic authorities stated that 12 of the 13 deaths in Mumbai were among senior citizens, including 11 with comorbidities. Active cases in the state inched close to the 3-lakh mark. But, Mumbai's active cases at 19,808 were less than a fifth of the numbers 10 days ago (1.02 lakh).
