MUMBAI: Maharashtra on Monday reported 51,751 fresh coronavirus positive cases, a day after logging the highest 63,294 infections, while 258 people died, the state health department said.
The state's cumulative case tally now stands at 34,58,996 and the toll at 58,245, it said.
Maharashtra is now left with 5,64,746 active cases, the department said in a release.
Mumbai saw 6,893 new cases and 43 fatalities, taking the tally to 5,27,391 and the toll to 12,066.
A total of 53,312 patients were discharged during the day in Maharashtra, taking the count of recoveries to 28,34,473, it said.
With 2,08,021 new tests, the number of samples tested so far in Maharashtra has gone up to 2,23,22,393, the department added.
Currently, 32,75,224 people are in home quarantine while 29,399 people are in institutional quarantine.
Maharashtra's case recovery rate is 81.94 per cent and the fatality rate is 1.68 per cent.
Mumbai division, including Mumbai city and satellite towns, recorded 14,424 cases and 73 deaths during the day, taking the tally to 10,98,598 and the toll to 21,199.
Nashik division reported 6,868 cases including 1,845 in Nashik city.
Pune division saw 11,761 fresh infections including 5,034 in Pune city.
Kolhapur division added 1,085 new cases while Aurangabad division added 2,111, Latur division 4,502, Akola division 1,546, and Nagpur division 9,454 cases including 4,044 in Nagpur city.
Maharashtra's coronavirus figures are: Positive cases 34,58,996, death 58,245, recoveries 28,34,473, active 5,64,746, total tests 2,23,22,393, tests today 2,08,021.
Meanwhile, amid a rise in cases and clamour for Remdesivir, a key medicine in the treatment of the infection, a batch of 6,000 vials of the drug arrived in Pune on Monday for distribution in hospitals, said district collector Rajesh Deshmukh.
All hospitals have been instructed to strictly follow directives issued by the state health department on prescribing Remdesivir to patients, Deshmukh added.
"The batch of 6,000 vials has been distributed in hospitals in proportion to the number of patients each facility has," he said, adding that flying squads have been formed to visit hospitals and pharmacy shops to check any irregularity in the drug's distribution.
Deshmukh said hospitals need to fill information about the purchase and usage of the vials in a Google sheet by 7 pm on a daily basis.
Plants in Maharashtra are producing 1,200 metric tonnes of oxygen per day and the entire stock is being used for medical purposes in view of the rising COVID-19 cases, Health Minister Rajesh Tope said on Monday.
He also said the central government should provide Maharashtra with 1.
60 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses per month.
Talking to reporters in adjoining Jalna district, Tope said the state government has decided to set up plants in hospitals which can separate and purify oxygen from the atmosphere and provide it to patients.
Tope said neighbouring states are not willing to supply liquid oxygen to Maharashtra, which is reeling under a second wave of COVID-19 and has seen a rapid rise in demand for oxygen needed to treat critical patients.
He said, "Oxygen generating plants in Maharashtra are producing 1,200 metric tonnes of oxygen everyday and we are using it fully for medical purposes."
Now monitoring and proper distribution of oxygen cylinders will be done by government officials, Tope said.
"Oxygen transported in tankers will be filled in cylinders under supervision of officials of district administration and the Food and Drugs Administration," he said.
"The government plans to establish liquid oxygen tanks at hospitals which have 50-100 beds. This will reduce human efforts to fill cylinders," Tope said.
The minister said oxygen in the environment can be collected and purified at facilities attached to hospitals and provided to needy patients.
"A 6 by 5 feet high-tech machine can purify oxygen from the air and supply it to a large number of patients. We are thinking of procuring these machines," he said.
Oxygen, collected from the atmosphere and purified by deploying a special technique, is used by a lot of industries in the country.
Medical-grade oxygen is used for treatment of critical COVID-19 patients and in other cases of respiratory diseases.
Tope said the Centre should provide Maharashtra, the state worst-hit by the pandemic, with 1.60 crore vaccine doses per month.
"Maharashtra is the first state to cross 1-crore vaccination mark. Our health infrastructure is ready for big vaccination and our opposition leaders should help the state in the drive," Tope said.