Maharashtra COVID-19 tally more than 5 lakhs; Daily cases still under 30,000

Mumbai, May 24: In a recent development, Maharashtra recorded 26,672 daily infections, pushing the count to 5,579,897. It can be seen that this is the fourth day in a row when the number of daily cases was less than 30,000.

The tally of active cases continued to fall and reached 348,395, with 29,177 recoveries in the past 24 hours.

According to reports, the state witnessed 594 casualties taking the toll up to 88,620. Pune reported the highest toll with 93 deaths. The district recorded 84 deaths, while the city reported nine fatalities. It was followed by Mumbai and Ahmednagar with 49 and 47 casualties.

The coronavirus situation in Maharashtra is improving. The number of daily cases is declining and it is down to around half of what it was in the beginning of this month. In the past one week (May 17-23), the average of new cases recorded in the state was 28,777, whereas in the first week (May 1-7), the average was 56,326.

Currently, Maharashtra is under complete lockdown, which ends on the morning of June 1. The state may not extend it further and start easing restrictions in a staggered manner.

On Sunday, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had said that although the cases have been brought under control, the state is gearing up for a possible third wave. He also said the decision of imposing lockdown was a tough call that has brought the situation under control. "I chose to impose lockdown by going against people's wishes".