COVID-19: Maharashtra reports nearly 6 lakh cases so far in March

The state of Maharashtra has been the worst hit by the pandemic. In the last two months, the number of cases in the state has multiplied many folds. The state, which is hit by the second wave, has been reporting close to 40,000 cases in a day for the past couple of days.

With two days still to go for March 2021, Maharashtra has already reported a whopping six lakh cases in this month alone. If the state continues to report a similar number of cases, then it is a possibility that Maharashtra may report close to seven lakh cases for this month. As a result of this growing number of cases, many believe that a lockdown may be imposed over Maharashtra soon.

Maharashtra had recorded a huge drop in cases at the beginning of 2021 compared to the previous three months. But, the number of new cases recorded this month have surpassed the tally of the past four months.

According to reports, Maharashtra has recorded 5,90,448 cases from March 1 to March 29, while it had recorded 5,93,192 cases in September 2020.

The data also revealed that between November 2020 and February 2021, the state recorded 4,87,519 infections.

Though the state on Monday, March 29, witnessed a drop in the daily cases with 31,643 cases and 102 deaths, a day after recording its sharpest single-day spike of 40,414 cases but this drop is being attributed to lesser testing. 

The state’s tally is now 2,745,518 cases and the death toll is 54,283 as of March 30, 2021. Since March 17, Maharashtra has been recording more than 20,000 cases every day. The state has also recorded 2,129 deaths this month.

A member of the state-appointed task force said that the numbers will continue to rise in the state as tests have increased.

Moreover, the state’s positivity rate on Monday was 14.08 per cent, whereas the recovery rate is 85.71 per cent. The state has been conducting more than 100,000 tests every day for the last few weeks, reports suggest.

Besides, a survey by the public health department had suggested that the active cases in the state could exceed up to three lakhs by April 4, if the treatment facilities in several districts, especially Nagpur and Thane, do not scale up.