COVID-19 cases at new high in Mumbai; nearly 1 in 3 test results positive
A health worker takes a nasal swab of a passenger for screening at Mumbai railway station
Amid a surge in coronavirus cases in the country, Mumbai reported 20,181 new COVID-19 cases and four deaths on Thursday.
Reports said nearly one in threetests showed positive results. The rapid increase in coronavirus cases reflected in the numbers in Maharashtra which recorded 36,265 new coronavirus cases on Thursday.
However, state health minister Rajesh Tope declared that local trains hasn't been shut with hospitalisations still low.
The western state of Maharashtra had recorded 26,538 COVID-19 cases on Wednesday. The state had recorded 39,923 coronavirus cases on May 14 during the second wave in India.
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Maharashtra's Pune city recorded 3,648 COVID-19 cases after recording 2,813 the previous day.
Reports say Mumbai and Thane in Maharashtra have recorded a 500 per cent increase in COVID-19 cases in the December 27 to January 2 period.
The state health minister informed that 80 per cent of hospital beds in Mumbai are still unoccupied.
Meanwhile, Union minister of state for health and family welfare Bharati Pawar said she has tested positive for coronavirus. Another MP Hemant Godse had also tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday.
(With inputs from Agencies)