Maharashtra reports 16 new Covid cases, zero death; active tally at 140

Maharashtra on Wednesday logged 16 new COVID-19 cases, taking the overall tally to 81,36,725, while no fresh death linked to the infection was registered in the state, said the health department.

The coronavirus death toll remained unchanged at 1,48,417. On Tuesday, Maharashtra had reported 22 COVID-19 cases and zero fatality. The Pune administrative circle logged the highest cases at seven, followed by five in Mumbai, two in Akola, one each in Nashik and Nagpur circles, said the department in a bulletin. An administrative circle consists of multiple districts and Maharashtra has eight such circles. As many as 12 patients recovered from the infection in the last 24 hours, taking their cumulative count to 79,88,168 and leaving the state with 140 active COVID-19 cases, said the bulletin. Of the 140 active COVID-19 cases, the highest are in Pune district at 75, followed by 27 in Mumbai and eight in Thane, among other districts, it said. With 14,784 swab samples examined in the last 24 hours, their overall number in the state rose to 8,59,74,748, said the health department. Maharashtra's coronavirus recovery rate was 98.17 per cent, while the case fatality rate stood at 1.82 per cent. According to the health department, as many as 1,92,568 passengers arrived at Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur international airports since December 24 when fresh screening of passengers was started in the backdrop of a spurt in coronavirus cases in some countries. Of these, RT-PCR test was conducted on 4,214 passengers and seven of them tested positive for COVID-19. Of the seven international passengers who have tested positive at the state's airports so far, three were from Pune, two from Navi Mumbai, one each from Goa and Tamil Nadu, it said. Their samples have been sent for genome sequencing (a comprehensive genetic lab test) to ascertain if any new variant of coronavirus was in circulation, a health department official said. In the wake of a jump in COVID-19 cases in some countries like China, South Korea, Brazil and the USA, state authorities started screening of international passengers arriving at Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur airports from December 24. Coronavirus figures of Maharashtra are as follows: Positive cases 81,36725; fresh cases 16; death toll 1,48,417; recoveries 79,88,168; active cases 140; total tests: 8,59,74,748.