A man cleans equipment at a fitness centre in Navi Mumbai before gyms reopen on October 25. (Express Photo: Amit Chakravarty) Maharashtra Coronavirus News HIGHLIGHTS: The number of Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra reached 16,32,544 after 7,347 people were detected with the infection on Friday, while 184 deaths in the last 24 hours took the toll to 43,015.
Meanwhile, with 48 deaths in last 24-hrs, Mumbai’s coronavirus death toll also crossed the 10,000 marks Friday evening. Nearly 1500 new infections were also recorded, taking the city’s Covid count to 2.48 lakhs.
In other news from Mumbai, the Indian Railways has allowed woman commuters to travel in suburban local trains from Wednesday. The state government is considering allowing the resumption of local train services for all in Mumbai. “We will take a decision on starting suburban train services for all in the next couple of days. We have held discussions with various stakeholders. Residents will get relief on this front soon,” Relief and Rehabilitation Minister Vijay Waddetiwar said.
The Mumbai Metro rail resumed operations on Monday. (Express photo by Pradip Das)
With 48 deaths in last 24-hrs, Mumbai’s coronavirus death toll Friday crossed 10,000 marks.
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Private security guards wearing uniform and carrying valid identity cards can travel in special local train services in Mumbai from Friday, railway officials said.The Central Railway and the Western Railway issued a joint statement saying that permission has been granted to private security guards to travel on special local train services following a request by the Maharashtra government. (PTI)
The Covid-19 count in Nashik district of Maharashtra rose to 91,002 on Thursday with the single-day addition of 430 such cases, news agency PTI reported citing officials. The virus claimed four lives during the day, which took the death toll in the district to 1,628, they said. So far, 82,943 patients have recovered from the infection, of whom 430 were discharged on Thursday alone
With the detection of 47 fresh COVID-19 cases on Thursday, Maharashtras Amravati district has reported a significant decline in the number of infections, an official said. The latest cases have taken the districts tally to 15,732, while the toll stood at 355 with a single casualty during the day, the official said. As many as 139 patients were discharged from various hospitals, raising the number of recoveries to 14,371 and the recovery rate reached 91.35 per cent, he said.
Maharashtra reported 7,539 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, taking its tally to 16,25,197, while 198fresh deaths pushed the toll to 42,831. The official said with 16,177patients getting discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours, the number of recoveries increased to 14,31,856. He said that Maharashtra's COVID-19 recovery rate is 88.10 per cent, while the fatality rate stands at 2.64 per cent. According to the official, out of 84,02,559COVID-19 tests done so far, 16,25,197have confirmed presence of the coronavirus, showing a positivity rate of 19.34 per cent.
The Maharashtra government on Thursday allowed lawyers affiliated with the Bar Council of Maharashtra & Goa and registered clerks to take local trains during non-peak hours for professional purposes till November 23. The decision, which is on an experimental basis, came at the direction of the Bombay High Court.
Nearly 2,000 lawyers practising in the High Court and various courts in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and registered clerks will benefit from the decision.
Kishore Raje Nimbalkar, secretary of state disaster management department, passed an order on Thursday, stating that lawyers and registered clerks will be allowed to take local trains during non-peak hours before 8 am, between 11 am and 4 pm, and post 7 pm on all working days.
As many as 157 persons tested positive for coronavirus, while 288 recovered from the infection in Maharashtra's Aurangabad district, an official said on Thursday. With the detection of latest cases on Wednesday, the tally in the district reached 37,002, the official said. A total of 1,043 persons have died of the infection in the district so far, while 34,289 have recovered from it, he said. Of the 157 fresh cases, 47 were reported the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation limits and 47 were from rural areas, he said. The district currently has 1,670 active cases, the official added.
The number of active cases of coronavirus infection in the country are now more than three lakh lower than the peak that was achieved in the middle of October. There have been only five days since September 17 when detection of new infections has exceeded the number of people recovering from the disease.
Wednesday saw one of the biggest declines in active cases. About 56,000 new cases were detected while almost 80,000 patients were declared to have recovered. The total number of active cases has dropped to 7.15 lakh now. At its peak, it had crossed 10.17 lakh. Almost half of this reduction has come from Maharashtra, where the active cases have declined from over three lakh to less than 1.6 lakh now.
Maharashtra minister Vijay Wadettiwar on Wednesday said a decision on allowing all passengers to use local train services in Mumbai will be taken in the next two-three days. At present, staffers of essential services and women passengers have been allowed to use the local train services, considered as the lifeline of Mumbai. Wadettiwar, the state Relief and Rehabilitation Minister, on Wednesday held a meeting on the issue with officials, including representatives of the Railway. Talking to a Marathi news channel after that, he said Mumbaikars "need not wait for long" to travel by local trains. "This decision will be taken soon. Mumbaikars need not wait for long. It will be finalised over the next two-three days. We will take all the organisations into confidence," he added.
At least 429 new cases of COVID-19 and 21 deaths due to the infection were recorded in Maharashtra's Nagpur district on Wednesday, an official said. With the addition of latest cases and casualties, the count of infections on the district rose to 91,988 and the toll reached 3,000, the official said. As many as 457 patients were discharged from hospitals, taking the number of recoveries to 82,896, he said. According to the official data, there are currently 6,092 active cases in the district.
Maharashtra's COVID-19 tally on Wednesday increased to 16,17,658 with the single-day rise of 8,142 cases. The state also reported 180 deaths, which took the fatality count to 42,633. A total of 23,371 patients were discharged during the day after treatment, taking the tally of recovered people to 14,15,679. With this, the number of active patients in the state stands at 1,58,852. Mumbai city reported 1,609 positive cases during the day, which pushed its overall case count to 2,45,869, while its death toll rose to 9,912, of which 48 were reported today. Pune city added 442 COVID-19 cases, raising its tally to 1,69,178, while three deaths took toll to 3,876.
The COVID-19 caseload in Thane has mounted to 2,02,626 with the addition of 892 cases in the Maharashtra district, an official said on Wednesday. The district also reported 29 deaths due to the viral infection on Tuesday, taking the toll to 5,129, he said. The recovery rate of COVID-19 patients in the district improved to 91.16 per cent and active patients dropped to 6.30 per cent, the official said. As of now, there are 12,775 active COVID-19 cases in the district, while 1,84,722 patients have recovered, he said. So far, Kalyan in the district has reported the maximum number of COVID-19 cases at 48,267, followed by Thane city-44,306 and Navi Mumbai-42,626.
Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) on Tuesday released timetables for Class X and XII supplementary exams. Usually held in July-August for repeat candidates and those who fail to pass the board exams held in February-March, the supplementary exams will be conducted this year in November-December. The exams will be conducted in written format, as followed earlier, and will be conducted across the nine divisions of the state board — Pune, Nagpur, Aurangabad, Mumbai, Kolhapur, Amravati, Nashik, Latur and Konkan.
For Class X, the exams will be held from November 20 to December 5, whereas for Class 12, from November 20 to December 10. For Class 12 (vocational education), the exams will be held from November 20 to December 7. Read Abha Goradia's report
In a much needed relief to women commuters of Mumbai, the Railways finally allowed them to travel in suburban local trains from Wednesday. The decision comes four days after the Maharashtra government, on October 16, issued a circular stating that women would be allowed to travel in local trains from Saturday — between 11 am and 3 pm and again from 7 pm till the end of services. Read Neeraj Tiwari's report
In a late night order, the Maharashtra government Tuesday capped the prices of masks. As per the new rates, an N-95 mask would cost between Rs 19 to Rs 45 depending on its kind, while a 3-ply would cost Rs 4, and a 2-ply mask Rs 3. At present, an N-95 mask costs Rs 150 to Rs 600 in the market, while a 3-ply mask costs anywhere between Rs 20 to Rs 40. Read more here
As many as 427 persons tested positive for coronavirus, while 13 died of the infection in Maharashtra's Nagpur district on Tuesday, an official said. With the addition of latest cases and casualties, the count of infections in the district rose to 91,559 and the toll reached 2,979, the official said. Of the fatalities reported so far, Nagpur alone accounted for 2,084 deaths, while the rest were from rural areas and out of the district, he said.
Maharashtra's coronavirus infection tally on Tuesday increased to 16,09,516 with 8,151 new cases, said a state health official. The state also reported 213 new COVID-19 deaths, which took the death toll to 42,453, he said. 65,456 coronavirus tests were performed in the last 24 hours, of which 8,151 turned out to be positive at an infection rate of 12.45 per cent, the official said. 7,429 patients were discharged after treatment, taking the tally of recovered cases to 13,92,308. The number of active patients in the state is 1,74,265.
The number of COVID-19 cases in Amravati in Maharashtra increased by 78 to reach 15,599 on Tuesday while the death toll was 352 after one person succumbed, an official said. He said 89 people were discharged during the day, taking the overall count of such cases to 14,159, giving the district a recovery rate of 90.77 per cent. The number of active cases in Amravati is 1,088.
Two videos of patients performing 'garba' at COVID-19 facilities in Mumbai have surfaced on social media, even as the Maharashtra government has appealed to people to hold health and blood donation camps instead of dandiya during the ongoing Navratri festival. In one of the videos, a number of COVID-19 patients with masks on their faces are seen performing garba along with health workers wearing PPE kits on a Bollywood song in a female ward. In the clip, some female patients are also seen watching the performance. In another video, some male patients are seen doing garba with healthcare professionals who are in PPE kits at 'Nursing Station 15'. (PTI)
Maharashtra government on Tuesday allowed female commuters to travel on local trains from October 21. Union Minister Piyush Goyal tweeted about the development and said, "I am happy to announce that Railways will allow women to travel on suburban trains from 21 Oct between 11 am to 3 pm & after 7 pm. We were always ready and with the receipt of letter from Maharashtra Govt today, we have allowed this travel."
The COVID-19 tally in Thane rose to 2,01,734 with the addition of 1,264 new cases, while seven civic limits of the Maharashtra district reported a recovery rate of over 90 per cent, an official said on Tuesday. The district also reported 29 deaths due to the viral infection on Monday, taking the toll to 5,100, he said.
So far, Kalyan town has recorded the maximum number of COVID-19 cases at 48,106, followed by Thane city-44,093 and Navi Mumbai-42,417 he said. As of now, there are 13,404 active COVID-19 cases in the district, while 1,83,230 patients (90.83 per cent) have recovered, the official said.
The COVID-19 recovery rate in Thane city was 90.24 per cent, Kalyan-92.58 per cent, Mira Bhayander-90.73 per cent, Navi Mumbai-91.46 per cent, Ulhasnagar-90.97 per cent, Ambernath-92.29 per cent, Badlapur-94.91 per cent, Bhiwandi- 88.70 per cent and Thane rural-83.95 per cent. (PTI)
Over 28,000 coronavirus RT-PCR tests have been conducted in nearly three months at labs set up at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University's (BAMU) campus in Aurangabad and its sub-centre in Osmanabad, PTI quoted a university official as saying on Tuesday.
The official said the lab in Aurangabad, which became operational on July 22, had conducted 19,437 swab tests till Monday morning, while the one at the BAMU's sub-centre in Osmanabad has carried out 9,000 tests.
The University's vice-chancellor Dr Pramod Yeole said, 'It was a need of the hour and we acted swiftly. In Aurangabad, the lab was set up using CSR funding and we also succeeded in set up a testing facility in a rural area like Osmanabad.' (PTI)
The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) revised the number of containment zones on Monday. There are now 33 zones in the city after the civic administration deleted 33 zones from the previous list and added 11 new ones.
Municipal Commissioner Vikram Kumar declared the new containment zones based on the Covid-19 situation in the city over the past two weeks. On October 5, the PMC had reduced containment zones from 71 to 59.
The zones now include five in Hadapsar-Mundhwa, four each in Dhankawadi-Sahakarnagar, Nagarroad-Vadgaonsheri and Kothrud-Bavdhan, three zones each in Kasba-Vishrambaugwada, Wanowrie-Ramtekdi and Kondhwa-Yeolewadi, two in Sinhagad Road and one each in Bhavanipeth, Dhole-Patil, Bibewadi, Yerawada-Kalas-Dhanori and Warje-Karvenagar.