COVID-19: Maharashtra tally soars to 4.4 lakh; Pune records 3,000 new cases

Maharashtra has reported 9,509 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, taking the tally of confirmed cases to 4,41,228, state health department data showed.

The death toll in the state rose to 15,576 after 260 patients succumbed to COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus, in the last 24 hours. The case fatality rate in the state stands at 3.53%, way over the country's 2.13% average.

Meanwhile, 9,926 patients were discharged after recovery in the same period, taking the number of recovered cases to 2,76,809. The recovery rate in Maharashtra is now 62.74%, as against the nation's average of 65.44%.

The number of active cases in the state stands at 1,48,537.

Currently, 9,25,269 people are under home quarantine and 37,944 people in institutional quarantine. Furthermore, out of 22,55,701 laboratory samples, 4,41,228 have been tested positive (19.56%) for COVID-19 until August 2.

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In the state capital Mumbai, 1,105 people were diagnosed with COVID-19 on Sunday, taking the aggregate to 1,16,436. As per the state health bulletin, India's financial capital has 21,394 active cases while 6,447 patients have died. For weeks now, Mumbai has reported less than 2,000 cases a day while the number of tests has remained fairly progressive, a sign that the outbreak is easing.

Meanwhile, the total number of cases in neighbouring Thane district touched 96,120, of which it has 31,929 active cases. The tally of active cases in Palghar meanwhile stands at 6,187 while it is 3,362 in Nagpur.

Cases in Pune district have surged to 94,911, of which there are 44,204 active cases. Concerned over the spike, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday reviewed the COVID-19 situation in the district and chaired a meeting of elected representatives, including MP and MLAs, and took stock of the situation and the local administration's response to the pandemic so far.

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State extends lockdown till August 31

Maharashtra government earlier extended the lockdown till August 31 and issued guidelines for 'Mission Begin Again'. Under the new guidelines, apart from the current relaxations, malls and market complexes have been allowed to reopen from August 5 without theatres, food courts, and restaurants from 9 AM to 7 PM. The guidelines have not mentioned anything on reopening religious places which remain shut across Maharashtra.

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