MUMBAI: After a gap of seven days, Maharashtra on Wednesday crossed the 10,000 single-day case mark and reported 10,066 COVID-19 infections, taking its tally to 59,97,587, said the state health department.
The state on June 16 had reported 10,107 cases and since then, the daily count has remained below 10,000.
Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope on Wednesday expressed concern over statewide daily cases not remaining below 7,000-8,000 on a consistent basis.
With 163 more deaths, the fatality count increased to 1,19,303, the health department said.
Out of them, 109 deaths occurred in the last 48 hours and 54 in the last week.
Deaths that took place more than a week's ago are being added in the cumulative tally as part of a data reconciliation exercise.
Under the exercise, 345 previously unreported deaths were added to the overall toll figure, the department said in a report.
The state's COVID-19 recovery rate is 95.93 per cent, while the case fatality rate is 1.99 per cent, the report said.
As many as 11,032 patients were discharged during the day, taking the number of recovered cases to 57,53,290 and leaving the state with 1,21,859 active cases, the department said.
There are 5,92,108 people in home quarantine and 4,223 in institutional quarantine, the report said.
With 2,41,801 more tests in the last 24 hours, the cumulative figure of samples examined for coronavirus reached 4,01,28,355, it said.
According to the statement, Mumbai city reported 864 new cases and 23 deaths, taking its infection tally to 7,21,963 and the toll to 15,338.
In the Mumbai division, comprising the city and its satellite towns, there were 2,515 new cases and 36 deaths.
This took the cumulative caseload in the region to 15,81,638 and the deaths to 31,503, it said.
The Nashik division reported 703 cases and six deaths, the health department said.
The Pune division recorded 2,423 cases and 34 deaths, of which 17 came from Satara district alone, the statement said.
The Kolhapur division reported 3,617 cases and 68 deaths, of which rural parts of Kolhapur and Sangli registered 20 and 23, respectively.
Kolhapur city added 14 deaths.
The Aurangabad division registered 160 new infections and one death, while the Latur division added 332 cases and eight fatalities, the statement said.
The Akola division reported 178 cases and two deaths, while the Nagpur division registered 138 cases and eight deaths, the statement said.
Maharashtra's coronavirus figures are as follows: Positive cases 59,97,587; new cases 10,066; deaths 1,19,303; recoveries 57,53,290; active cases 1,21,859; total tests so far 4,01,28,355.
Daily COVID-19 cases not falling below the 8,000-mark in Maharashtra is a matter of concern, state Health Minister Rajesh Tope said on Wednesday even as he observed that the study of the Delta Plus variant has indicated that it could be more virulent compared to the previous mutants.
Speaking to reporters, Tope said the cases are plateaued at 7,000 to 8,000 per day in the state now compared to the peak of 65,000 infections reported in a day in the past.
"It is a matter of concern for the state as the number of fresh (daily) COVID-19 cases is not dropping below 8,000. In the last 7 to 8 days, the state has been adding around 7,000 to 8,000 new COVID-19 cases per day but the number is not going down," he said.
Tope said 21 COVID-19 cases of the Delta plus variant had been found so far in seven districts in the state.
"A separate hospital ward is formed for such patients," he said.
"These are the index cases of Delta plus variant and its severity could be higher. The study of this variant has indicated that it could be more virulent compared to the previous mutants," he said.
He said 100 samples each from 36 districts of Maharashtra have been taken and sent for genome sequencing.
"The total sample size is as big as 7,500," Tope added.
A member of the Maharashtra COVID task force Dr Shashank Joshi earlier on Wednesday said enough data was not available about the new variant and the extent of its virulence.
The new Delta Plus variant has been found in the US, UK, Portugal, Switzerland, Japan, Poland, Nepal, China and Russia.
The new Delta Plus variant has been formed due to a mutation in the Delta or B.1.617.2 variant, first identified in India and one of the drivers of the deadly second wave.
Though there is no indication yet of the severity of the disease due to the new variant, Delta Plus is resistant to the monoclonal antibody cocktail treatment for COVID-19 recently authorised in India.
Some cases of the Delta Plus variant of COVID-19 have also been found in Madhya Pradesh and Kerala.
The state on Wednesday administered more than 6 lakh doses of COVID-19 vaccines, setting a new single-day record of inoculating people against the infection, a top government official said.
With this, the state bettered the record of administrating 5,58,639 vaccine doses on Tuesday.
Dr Pradeep Vyas, additional chief secretary (public health department), said, "Today, we have bettered the performance of yesterday (Tuesday) and administered the highest-ever number of COVID-19 vaccination doses in a single day. The state administered 6,02,163 doses till 7 pm on Wednesday."
"The actual number could be more after the final figure comes," he said.
Maharashtra on Tuesday had given 5,58,639 vaccine doses, as per a report released on Wednesday.