Mumbai : Maharashtra reported 37 more Covid-19 deaths on Friday, taking the total toll beyond 700, even as the number of cases continued to march upwards, crossing 19,000.
With 37 fatalities, the state death toll shot up to 731 and the total number of coronavirus patients increased from to 19,063 with a jump of 1,089.
Of the total deaths, 25 were recorded in Mumbai – taking the city toll to 462 and the number of Covid-19 positive patients in the city shot up by 748 to 12,142.
Besides Mumbai’s 25 deaths, Pune recorded 10 fresh fatalities, while one death each was reported from Amravati and Jalgaon.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray ruled out deploying the Indian Army to control crowds in Mumbai but hinted at lockdown extension since the ‘virus chain’ had not broken as indiscipline among the people continued.
As Mumbai continued to be the worst Covid-19 hotspot in India, the state government acted tough by shunting out BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation Commissioner Praveen Pardeshi and replacing him with another senior IAS officer Iqbal Singh Chahal.
The developments came a day after the state recorded its highest single-day death toll of 43 and two days after a macabre video showing Covid-19 patients lying beside dead bodies, purportedly at the BMC’s LTMG Sion Hospital. (IANS story, May 6), into which a high-level probe has been ordered.
The dead on Friday comprised 19 men and 18 women, and nearly 73 percent of them suffered from other serious ailments such as diabetes, hypertension, heart problems and asthma.
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region (Thane Division) continued to cause major worries with 497 Covid-19 deaths and 14,648 patients.
Pune Division trails a distant second with 151 fatalities and 2,456 patients.
The next area of concern is Nashik Division with 32 deaths and 757 positive cases, followed by Aurangabad Division with 13 fatalities and 495 patients and finally, Akola Division with 22 deaths and 321 patients.
On the positive side, 169 fully cured patients returned home, taking the number of those discharged to 3,470 till date.
Meanwhile, the number of people in home quarantine increased by a whopping 26,789 to 239,531 and those in institutional quarantine continued to be 13,494 , while the state’s containment zones increased to 1,139.
As many as 13,552 teams have carried out a survey of a population of around 52.6 lakhs in the state till date.