Maharashtra witnesses huge surge in COVID-19 cases; overall state tally stands at 3,648

Maharashtra witnessed a huge surge in novel Coronavirus cases on Saturday after 328 persons tested positive for COVID-19. This includes 184 cases from Mumbai, which is a big rise from Friday's figures. This has propelled the state's novel Coronavirus tally to 3,648. On the other hand, 11 more persons - 5 from Mumbai, 4 from Pune and one each from Aurangabad and Thane lost their lives owing to COVID-19. Thus, the death toll in the state stands at 211. 

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Maharashtra government to provide Rs.2,000 each to construction workers

Earlier in the day, Maharashtra Cabinet approved financial assistance of Rs.2,000 to each construction worker during the nationwide lockdown. In a statement, Maharashtra Labour Minister Dilip Walse Patil observed that the construction workers were facing a lot of difficulties due to unemployment in the current phase. He stated that the money will be deposited in the accounts of workers via the Direct Benefit Transfer method. This is expected to benefit about 12 lakh registered construction labourers in the state. 

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The novel Coronavirus crisis in India

Currently, there are 14,792 confirmed novel Coronavirus cases in India out of which 2,015 persons have recovered while 488 individuals have passed away. Addressing a press briefing, Lav Aggarwal - the Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Health stated that 991 fresh COVID-19 cases and 43 deaths had been reported in the last 24 hours. He revealed that Markaz attendees constituted nearly 30% out of India's total COVID-19 tally. Mentioning that there is a 3.3% COVID-19 mortality rate in the country, he added that 83% of such cases were due to co-morbidities. 

Read: COVID-19 Cases In India Soar Past 14,000-mark, Maharashtra Continues To Be Worst-hit

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