With 2,345 fresh cases of COVID-19, Maharashtra's tally rose to 41,642, the state health department said. The BMC will book private hospitals, nursing homes and clinics which remain shut during the lockdown period. While the CISF troops took out a flag march in South Mumbai, thousands thronged to Bhiwandi streets after rumours of actor Salman Khan visiting the area purported. (All photos/mid-day photographers)
Updated On: 2020-05-22 08:25 AM IST
For the third consecutive day, the country reported over 5,000 fresh cases of COVID-19, thereby taking the country's total tally to 1,12,359 cases, the Health Ministry said. With 41,642 cases, Maharashtra continues to remain the worst state followed by Tami Nadu (13,879) and Gujarat (12,932) cases.
With 2,345 new positive COVID-19 cases reported in Maharashtra, the total number of coronavirus cases in the state has risen to 41,642, stated the Health Department. Maharashtra reported 64 fatalities on Thursday, of which 41 were recorded in Mumbai. Besides Mumbai, eight in Pune, three in Aurangabad, two in Thane (Navi Mumbai), and one in Solapur died due to the deadly virus.
The Maharashtra State Health Department said that number of people sent into home quarantine increased from 404,892 to 437,304 - a huge single-day spurt of 32,412 - and those in institutional quarantine went up from 26,752 to 26,865, while the state's containment zones increased from 1,849 on Wednesday to 1,949 on Thursday.
The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), on Thursday, conducted a flag march in the congested areas of minority-dominated Bhendi Bazar and Nagpada areas to ensure strict implementation of the extended lockdown till May 31.
In photo: A BMC notice declares Bandra's Nargis Dutt Nagar as a COVID-19 containment area.
The Maharashtra Police, on Wednesday, paid tribute to its personnel who lost their lives to COVID-19 while offering their condolences to the families of the deceased. Till Wednesday, the Maharashtra police department had reported 1,388 COVID-19 cases among its ranks, of which 948 were active cases.
The Textiles Committee of Mumbai has been approved to test and certify personal protection equipment (PPE) body coveralls used by the healthcare workers and other COVID-19 warriors, an official said. The Textile Committee of Mumbai will be the 9th laboratory to test and certify PPEs, as per an announcement by the Ministry of Textiles.
In an incident, Mumbai Police officials said that a purported rumour of Bollywood actor Salman Khan visiting the Bhiwandi town triggered thousands of people to gather on the road. After being convinced by police officials, hundreds of excited fans who had rushed out of their homes dispersed without much fuss.
In a novel move, the BMC has decided to book private hospitals, nursing homes and clinics which remain shut during the lockdown period, officials said. The civic body has constituted about 10,000 teams, who are surveying around 700,000 people daily to weed out COVID-19 suspect cases. To date, 7,447 suspect cases have been referred to hospitals, 52,798 high-risk contacts have been identified of which 36,167 have been sent to quarantine.
In photo: A clear view of Mumbai from Bandra Reclamation during total lockdown in the city.
A total of 3,002 COVID-19 patients have been reported cured in the last 24 hours (as on Thursday) and India's total count of cured COVID-19 patients stands at 45,299, the Health Ministry said. While addressing a press conference, the Health Ministry also said that India's recovery rate has improved to 40.23 per cent from 39.62 per cent a day earlier.
With 24 new COVID-19 cases, the total number of active cases in the state has mounted to 177 and a total of 510 people have recovered, read an official statement issued by the Kerala's State Health Department.
Nine new cases of COVID-19 were reported in the Central Reserve Police Force, thereby taking the total number of positive coronavirus cases in the force to 335. Out of the total cases, 121 personnel are undergoing treatment and two fatalities have been reported, a CRPF official said.
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, on Wednesday, announced Rs 1000 crore fund for the restoration work of the areas affected due to cyclone Amphan, which has claimed 72 lives so far in the state. She further said that the situation in the state is not good as there is no electricity, water nor internet in the affected areas across West Bengal.
In photo: A Mumbai Police personnel walks back home after buying groceries during total lockdown in the city.
The number of daily COVID-19 cases hit a new high in the national capital as Delhi reported 571 fresh corona cases, thereby taking the total number of coronavirus cases in the state to 11,659 including 5,567 recovered/discharged/migrated and 194 deaths. On the other hand, Chandigarh reported three fresh cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday. The total count rises to 216 cases, said the UT's Health Department.
In a another incident, a 50-year-old Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Assistant Sub-Inspector lost his battle against COVID-19 and passed away during treatment, three months after celebrating his birthday. The ASI, deployed with 84th Battalion of CRPF was battling co-morbidity of COVID-19 infection and liver cancer.
On Day 4 of the extended lockdown till May 31, Tamil Nadu reported as many as 776 new cases of COVID-19, thus taking the total tally to 13,967. The state Health Department said that seven coronavirus patients died thereby taking the death toll to 94. According to the government a total of 12,464 samples were tested on Thursday, taking the total to over 3.72 lakh till date.
According to an analysis of COVID deaths in India by the Ministry of Health, there are at least 64 percent deaths in males and 36 percent in females. More so, 73 percent of the death cases had underlying co-morbidities, the report said. The ministry said that community awareness, personal hygiene, hand hygiene, respiratory etiquette and environmental sanitation are the most important tools to combat COVID-19.
