August sees fastest growth of COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra

Mumbai, Sep 06: Maharashtra reported the fastest growth is coronavirus infection in August, registering over 3.70 lakh cases, a senior state health official said. According to data of the Maharashtra health department, the state reported 3,76,587 COVID-19 cases last month, 2,41,820 cases in July and 1,04,748 cases in June.

"On August 1, the total number of COVID-19 cases in the state was 4,31,719, which jumped to 8,08,306 on September 1. This is probably the fastest growth of cases in the state since January," the health official said.

One of the reasons for the growth in number of positive cases is the increased number of tests, he said, adding that last month, the state carried out 20,16,809 tests. "The number of tests conducted till August 1 was 21,94,943, which rose to 42,11,752 on September 1.

The state is aggressively testing which is helping in detection of the infected people," the official said. The official informed that the number COVID-19 cases and deaths is continuously going up in the state. Between August 1 and 5, the number of COVID-19 cases rose by 36,546, and between September 1 and 5, the number went up by 75,556, the official said.

Besides, the state reported 15,316 deaths due to the disease till August 1 and the number went up to 24,903 on September 1, as per the data. "Between August 1 and 5, 1,160 people died due to COVID-19 and between September 1 and 5, 1,373 people died," the official said.

Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly Devendra Fadnavis has said the state needs to conduct more tests. "Out of the daily tests, a sizable number is of the antigen tests which are not completely reliable. The RT-PCR tests, which are more reliable, should be done on a large scale, which will be able to tell the ground reality about the coronavirus," he said. However, the health official said the antigen tests are comparatively cheaper than the RT-PCR tests and hence, conducted more as a precautionary measure.