In the sharpest spurt since the lockdown started, Maharashtra recorded a staggering 302 Covid-19 positive cases with the highest number from Mumbai, officials said yesterday.
In the past 24 hours, the number of cases surged from 259 to 302 - an increase of 43.
The total positive cases now stand at: Mumbai 151, Pune 48, Thane region 36, Sangli 25, Nagpur 16, Ahmednagar 8, Yavatmal 4, Buldhana 3, Satara and Kolhapur 2 each, one each in Aurangabad, Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri, Gondia, Jalgaon, Nashik, besides one from Gujarat.
Nineteen patients have died in Maharashtra, eight of them in Mumbai, said Health Minister Rajesh Tope.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray again appealed to the people to remain indoors and maintain social distancing.
“The ‘war against virus’ has reached a crucial stage and this is the time to exercise extreme precautions. Please do not step out of your homes for your own safety,” Thackeray said.
He said that the problems of migrant labourers has been adequately addressed with around 1,000 camps - up from 262 on Monday - starting to function yesterday.
The number of Rs5 meals, ‘Shiva Bhojan Thali’ has been increased from the normal 25,000 a day to 100,000, with plans to raise more if required.
“The state has sufficient stocks of foodgrains, vegetables and medicines and there’s no need to panic,” the chief minister said.
According to official data, 39 people have fully recovered and discharged, while 23,914 are in home quarantine, and 1,434 in institutional isolation across the state. Tope said the Indian Council of Medial research has approved 23 new testing labs, including 13 in the private sector.
In a related development, the health authorities have sealed off the Worli-Koliwada, one of Mumbai’s oldest fisherfolk colonies which falls in the constituency of Tourism and Environment Minister Aditya Thackeray, after at least five  positive cases were detected.
“Disinfection and fumigation is on along with contact tracing,” Thackeray tweeted yesterday.
According to officials, one of the reasons for the huge increase in cases is attributed to the Mumbai population density, especially in sprawling dingy slums.