Maharashtra: 3,721 new cases, 113 deaths added

The police said the constable, Pradip Kashid, was admitted at JJ hospital on June 17 after he started showing symptoms of Covid-19. “He tested positive,” said an officer. He later went on to suffer from a severe breathing problem and was shifted to St George hospital. “He was on the ventilator, and died on Sunday night,” the officer added.

Neighbouring regions of Mumbai, including Thane, Vasai, Mira-Bhayander, Kalyan, Navi Mumbai, Ulhasnagar and Bhiwandi recorded 1,149 new cases on Monday. Experts said while Mumbai is consistently reporting around 1,000 cases, the case load is also rising in its suburban areas.

Mira-Bhayander recorded 13 deaths on Monday, taking its toll to 109. Malegaon recorded eight and Pune nine deaths, taking the overall toll 77 and 526, respectively.

So far, the state has tested 7.87 lakh people, with 17.2 per cent testing positive. Positivity rate in Mumbai, Thane, Palghar and Navi Mumbai is higher than the state average. Meanwhile, 1,962 patients were discharged on Monday, taking the recovered count to 67,706. The state has 61,793 active cases now.

Mumbai’s number of new cases is currently growing at 1.88 per cent. However, at least five wards – Mulund, Dahisar, Borivali, Goregaon and Bandra West – have seen over 3 per cent growth rate in weekly cases. While Mulund and Borivali West take 19 days to double the case load, Mumbai’s takes 37 days to do the same.

To free up beds occupied by asymptomatic patients in private hospitals, BMC Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal has directed ward officers to inspect all hospitals in the next 48 hours. During inspection, if officials find that asymptomatic patients have occupied beds, they should be discharged immediately.