MUMBAI: The cases of Delta Plus variant of coronavirus in Maharashtra has gone up to 103 after 27 new infections were reported in the state, the state health department said on Tuesday.
According to the health department, six cases each were detected in Gadchiroli and Amravati, five in Nagpur, four in Ahmednagar, three in Yavatmal, two in Nashik and one in Bhandara district.
As per official data, there are 53,433 active cases of COVID-19 in Maharashtra.
"The cumulative cases of COVID-19 in the state stands at 62,38,794, while as many as 1,36,067 people have succumbed to the infection so far," the Union Health Ministry said.
An Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) study conducted in Chennai has found that the Delta variant has the potential to infect both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals, but it reduces mortality among the former group.
According to a study published in the Journal of Infection on August 17 and approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee of ICMR-National Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai indicates that the prevalence of the Delta variant or B.1.617.2 was not different between the vaccinated and unvaccinated groups.
"B.1.617.2 has the potential to infect both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals. However, the progression of illness seems to be prevented by vaccination. Therefore, non-pharmaceutical interventions must continue to slow down the transmission. Additionally, the pace and scale of vaccination have to be increased to mitigate the further waves of the pandemic," the report read.
reported 4,355 new coronavirus cases and 119 fresh fatalities on Tuesday, taking the infection tally to 64,32,649 and the toll to 1,36,355, a state health department official said.
Seven districts namely Wardha, Gondia, Akola, Yavatmal, Hingoli, Jalna, and Dhule did not report any fresh infection of COVID-19 (in their rural areas), and same was the case with Chandrapur, Amaravati, Akola, Parbhani, Jalgaon, Dhule and Malegaon municipal corporations (urban centres), he said.
The official said 4,240 patients were discharged from hospitals across the state in the last 24 hours, taking the cumulative number of recovered cases to 62,43,034.
Maharashtra now has 49,752 active cases, he said.
The state has 3,01,955 people in home isolation and another 2,330 in institutional quarantine, according to the official.
Maharashtra's COVID-19 recovery rate stands at 97.05 per cent, while the fatality rate is 2.11 per cent, he said.
The cumulative number of tests conducted in the state climbed to 5,26,32,810, of which 1,87,121 tests were done in the last 24 hours, the official said.
He said Ahmednagar district reported the highest 667 new infections, followed by Pune at 533, while Satara district topped the list of fatalities with 24 deaths in the last 24 hours.
Among the eight regions of Maharashtra, the Pune region reported the highest new cases at 1,876 followed by 895 in Kolhapur.
Among the other regions, the Nashik region reported 748 new cases, Mumbai 631, Latur 168, Nagpur 21, Aurangabad nine and the Akola region seven, he said.
According to the official, among the 119 fatalities, the highest 65 were reported from the Pune region followed by 27 from the Kolhapur region.
Significantly, Akola and Nagpur regions did not report any fresh fatality, while the Nashik region registered 14 deaths, Mumbai six, Latur five and the Aurangabad region two, he said.
The official said Mumbai witnessed 271 new COVID-19 cases and only one death, while Pune city reported 226 infections and two fatalities.
Among the 49,752 active cases in the state, Pune district has the highest at 11,962, he said.
The official said among the 62,43,034 recovered patients across the state, the highest - 10,80,515 - were from Pune district.
Coronavirus figures for Maharashtra are as follows: Total cases 64,32,649; new cases- 4,355; total deaths 1,36,355; total recoveries 62,43,034; active cases 49,752; total tests 5,26,32,810.
(With PTI Inputs)