Maharashtra records 44,388 fresh COVID cases, 207 new Omicron infections; Mumbai sees seven more deaths

Maharashtra on Sunday reported 44,388 new COVID-19 cases and 12 fatalities, taking the tally of infections to 69,20,044 and the death toll to 1,41,639, the state health department said. A day earlier, the state had reported 41,434 coronavirus cases and 13 deaths. With 15,351 patients discharged on Sunday, the number of recoveries rose to 65,72,432 in Maharashtra, which is now left with 2,02,259 active cases, the department said in a statement. The state added 207 fresh cases with the Omicron variant of coronavirus, taking the number of such patients to 1,216. The case recovery rate in Maharashtra now stands at 94.98 percent and the fatality rate is 2.04 percent, the department said. Mumbai on Sunday reported 19,474 COVID-19 cases and seven fatalities, taking the city’s tally of infections to 9,14,572 and the toll to 16,406, the city civic body said. A day earlier the city had reported 20,318 coronavirus infections and five deaths. Of the 19,474 cases reported on Sunday, 15,969 (82 percent) are asymptomatic. In Mumbai, a total of 1,240 patients were hospitalised during the day, the civic body’s health department said. It said that 7,432 of the total 34,900 beds (21.3 percent) have been occupied. A total of 8,063 patients were discharged after treatment, which raised the tally of recoveries so far to 7,78,119 in Mumbai, leaving the metropolis with 1,17,437 active cases. Mumbai’s case recovery rate now stands at 85 percent. The doubling rate is 41 days. With 68,249 new tests, the cumulative number of tests in Mumbai rose to 1,42,03,805. While the number of cases continue to increase, there is no immediate need for imposing lockdown in Mumbai as the bed occupancy rate, oxygen requirement and number of COVID-19 deaths are low, municipal commissioner  Iqbal Chahal  has said on Friday. However, on Sunday, state health minister Rajesh Tope said that the state government will gradually bring curbs at places of worship and other sites, including liquor vendors, that attract crowds to control the coronavirus pandemic. He told reporters that the medical oxygen demand in Maharashtra for COVID-19 and other patients went up from 270 metric tonnes to 350 metric tonnes recently, though this is just a fraction of the 1,700-2,000 MT required when the pandemic was peaking during earlier periods. The state government on Sunday revised the COVID-19-related restrictions for gyms and beauty salons, allowing them to operate at 50 percent capacity from January 10 midnight. Only those activities that do not require removal of mask by anyone shall be allowed, the order read. Only fully vaccinated people shall be allowed to use such services and all staff engaged in operation shall be fully vaccinated, it said. Gyms will be allowed to operate at 50 percent capacity subject to use of mask while performing any activity, the order said. Tightening restrictions in the face of surging COVID-19 cases, the state government on Saturday prohibited movement in public in groups of five or more from 5 in the morning to 11 at night, effective January 10 midnight. Further, no movement will be allowed in public from 11 pm to 5 am except for essential services, the government circular had said. Schools and colleges will be closed till February 15 except for activities required to be undertaken for class 10 and 12 students and administrative activities of teachers, it said. No visitors will be allowed at government offices except with written permission of office heads. Online interaction facility will be provided for people through video conference. Government offices should opt for work from home and working hours should be staggered if work from office is required, the circular said. Private offices have also been asked to rationalise the number of employees coming to work by allowing work from home and staggering working hours. Attendance at marriages and social, religious, cultural or political gatherings will be capped at 50. At funerals, not more than 20 people can remain present, said the circular. On Sunday, the Mumbai division reported 33,299 cases and nine deaths. The number of the total cases in this region now stands at 19,38,027 and the death toll at 36,165, the department said. Today, the Nashik division reported 1,497 cases, including 799 in Nashik city. The Pune division added 6,933 cases, including 4,065 in Pune city, taking active cases in the city to 14,890. The Kolhapur division saw 575 fresh cases, the Aurangabad division 321, Latur division 355, Akola division 249, Nagpur division 1,159 including 757 in Nagpur city. With 2,02,932 new tests, the cumulative number of samples tested so far in Maharashtra went up to  7,05,45,105, the department said. With inputs from PTI Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.