Maharashtra reports 258 more COVID-19 deaths, new high of 9,518 cases

Mumbai, July 19, 2020

Maharashtra, India's worst-hit state, today reported 258 more deaths due to coronavirus (COVID-19) and a new high of 9,518 fresh cases of infection, official sources said here today.

With these, the death toll in the state has risen to 11,854 and the total number of coravirus cases has risen to 310,455 -- both numbers being the highest among all states in India.

This is the first time that the number of fresh cases has gone past the 9,000-mark in a day.

The previous high of number of cases in a single day -- 8,641 -- was reported on July 16. The highest number of deaths in a single day --295 -- was recorded on July 4.

A bulletin from the Public Health Department said 3,906 patients were discharged from hospitals today, taking the total number of those discharged after recovery so far to 1,69,569. The total number of active cases in the state is 128,730 as of today, it said.

The recovery rate in the state is 54.62 per cent, while the case fatality rate is 3.82 per cent, it said.

Currently, 7,54,370 people are in home quarantine, while 45,846 people are in institutional quarantine, the bulletin said.

Of the 258 new deaths in the state, Mumbai, the country's financial capital, accounted for 64, taking the toll in the city to 5,714 while the number of cases in the metropolis has increased by 1,038 to 101,388.

There were also 60 deaths in Thane, 45 in Pune, 13 in Raigad, 12 in Palghar, 11 in Jalgaon, 10 in Nashik, seven in Nagpur, six in Sangli, five each in Aurangabad and Satara, four in Latur, two each in Ratnagiri, Ahmednagar, Akola, and Solapur, and one each in Dhule, Nandurbar, Kolhapur, Jalna, Parbhani, Osmanabad, Yavatmal, and Washim.

With complaints of alleged fleecing by private hospitals, the state government has appointed an independent auditor who will vet all the bills issued to patients before payment.

The decision was announced by Health Minister Rajesh Tope at a review meeting in Solapur presided over by Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar.

Meanwhile, a suspected Covid-19 patient jumped off the fifth floor of a corona hospital in Kalyan and died on the spot. The motive behind him taking the extreme step is being probed.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region (Thane Division) has reported 8,220 deaths and a total of 199,835 cases so far.

Thane's cases have touched 75,111 with 2,036 fatalities to emerge as the second worst-hit district after Mumbai in the state.

Pune district continues to zoom ahead with 54,624 cases, with the death toll increasing to 1,359 on Sunday.

The Pune division's death toll reached 1,823 with the case tally touching 62,590 - but it remains far behind MMR and Thane district.

Nashik division has 895 fatalities and 20,582 cases, followed by Aurangabad division with 435 deaths and 11,913 cases, and Akola division with 188 fatalities and 4,644 cases.

Next is Kolhapur division which has notched 104 deaths and 4,440 cases, Latur division has had 119 fatalities and 2,749 cases, and Nagpur division 38 deaths and 3,447 cases.

All the eight divisions recorded fatalities on Sunday, while only Chandrapur (out of total 36) remains a zero COVID death district till date.

(With inputs from IANS)

NNN