Mumbai Covid-19 deaths cross 200, Maha cases overshoot 8K

Mumbai's Covid-19 toll crossed the 200 mark to touch 204 on Sunday while the number of new cases in the state overshot the 8,000 threshold to reach 8,068, health officials said.

The state notched 440 new Covid-19 patients cases - compared to the highest of 811 on Saturday - and recorded 19 new deaths, taking the state's toll to 342.

Twice this week, the state notched single-day high figures of 552 new cases, zooming to a new record of 778 on Thursday, and then 811 on Saturday, creating huge concern among the health authorities.

Of the total 19 deaths, 12 were recorded in Mumbai, taking the total from 191 to 204 and the number of Covid-19 positive patients in the city shot up from 5,049 to 5,407 - with 358 new cases.

With Dharavi touching 275 cases and 14 deaths till date, the BMC said it has upped the number of institutional quarantine facilities from 1,000 to 2,300, plus adding 700 beds at a private school, with focus on shifting maximum people there and testing them.

Pune district recorded 3 fresh fatalities, besides two deaths in Malegaon (Nashik), and one each in Latur and Solapur. Pune City and Pimpri-Chinchwad metro areas have been sealed completely till April 27.

Those who died on Sunday comprised 11 men and 8 women, and 73 percent of them suffered from other serious ailments such as diabetes, hypertension, heart problems and asthma.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday made it clear that no train services will be started but said all efforts would be made to enable the stranded migrants return to their home states.

"There will be no trains at this stage... It would result in overcrowding. I am in touch with the Centre and CMs of other states to work out a solution. I shall discuss this with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the video-conferencing tomorrow," Thackeray said in an address to the state.

As two policemen succumbed to Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, Thackeray also paid rich tributes to the police personnel and health workers, terming them as the "real Gods who live amidst us".

In a positive development, 31 of the 53 media persons who tested positive last week, were discharged on Sunday after their second test reports came negative, but all have been sent to 14 days' home quarantine, said a BMC official.

The BMC also said it has launched plasma therapy for Covid-19 by installing a Plasmapheresis machine at the B.Y.L. Nair Hospital.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region (Thane Division) continued to cause worries with 223 Covid-19 deaths and 6,343 patients.

Pune Division follows at a distant second slot with 83 deaths and 1,128 patients.

The next worrying area is Nashik Division with 22 deaths and 222 positive cases, followed by Akola Division with 3 deaths and 119 patients, overtaking Nagpur's 110 patients and one death.

On the positive side, 112 fully cured patients returned home, taking the number of those discharged to 1,188.

Meanwhile, the number of people in home quarantine shot up from 125,393 to 136,926 and those in institutional quarantine increased from 8,124 to 9,160, and the state's containment zones shot up from 555 on Saturday to 604.

As many as 8,603 surveillance squads have fanned out to survey a population of nearly 3.37 million around the state.