As Second Wave Ebbs, 6 Maharashtra Districts Have Active Cases in Single Digits, 5 Report 37,000 Cases

As the Covid-19 second wave ebbs, 15 districts across Maharashtra have fewer than 100 active cases. Six of these 15 districts have active cases that are in single digits, while the tribal-dominated Nandurbar district has absolutely no active case at all.

Out of over 55,000 active cases in Maharashtra, over 37,000 are concentrated in the five districts- Pune, Thane, Satara, Ahmednagar and Sangli, The Times of India reported. A state official told TOI that these 15 districts are smaller, with sparse population density and limited movement and the current challenge is to keep the daily detection numbers and active cases low in these parts.

Dr Subhash Salunkhe, technical advisor to the state government told TOI that the Delta variant was still active in the state and new cases were being seen among people who were not previously exposed to it.

Of the 36 districts in the state, only seven districts were reporting an infection rate that was higher than the average infection rate for the state, said Health minister Rajesh Tope. The numbers are still being driven by these districts and the government is focusing on these districts to ensure that the containment norms are implemented properly, Tope added.

The minister warned the states reporting cases in single digits should not let their guard down.

“Our second wave was caused by the Delta variant and the variant seems stable at the moment. We need to use this time to vaccinate as many people as possible if we want to prevent a huge third wave,” Dr Salunke told TOI.

Recent sero-surveys in the state and Kerala had shown that antibody levels among people were dropping and the weather conditions in the next few months will see fluctuating temperatures that are conducive for viral growth, he added.

Maharashtra reported 4,575 new coronavirus cases and 145 deaths on Saturday while 5,914 patients recovered from the infection. The state’s Covid-19 caseload thus rose to 64,20,510, while the death toll increased to 1,35,817, an official said.

Nandurbar district in north Maharashtra did not record a single active Covid-19 case for the sixth day in a row. As many as 5,914 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, taking the recovery count to 62,27,219. There are 53,967 active cases in the state at present.

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