Mumbai, Maharashtra Report Highest 1-Day Spike of New COVID Cases

Image used for representational purposes.

(Photo: PTI)

Maharashtra on Wednesday, 24 March, reported 31,855 new COVID-19 cases, its highest single-day spike since the outbreak of the pandemic in India in 2020, government data showed.

Meanwhile, Mumbai reported 5,185 fresh positive cases and six deaths in the last 24 hours, according to government data, which is the highest one-day spike for the city as well.

The state’s spike on Wednesday exceeded the previous high recorded on 18 March, when Maharashtra reported 25,833 new coronavirus cases, taking the tally in the state to 23,96,340. This was as of then the highest one-day rise in COVID cases in the state, surpassing the peak recorded in September 2020.

Similarly, Mumbai on 19 March had recorded the then highest-ever daily tally of 3,062 cases, taking the city’s total number of infections to 3,55,897, while the death toll rose by 10 to 11,565.

Maharashtra has been witnessing a surge in the number of coronavirus cases since last month, prompting the state government to impose restrictions in several areas.

Apart from Maharashtra, several other states such as Punjab are also witnessing a rise in the number of daily cases, which has pushed India's overall tally up of late.

Novel COVID Variant in India

Meanwhile, India on Wednesday reported 47,262 new coronavirus cases, taking the tally to 1,17,34,058. This is the highest one-day rise in cases since early November. The death toll increased by 275 to 1,60,441.

According to the Union Health Ministry, there are currently 3,68,457 active cases across the country, while 1,12,05,160 patients have been discharged so far, with 23,907 discharges reported in the last 24 hours.

The Centre on Wednesday said that the genome sequencing by the Indian SARS-Cov-2 Consortium on Genomics (INSACOG), a grouping of 10 national laboratories, has shown that coronavirus variants of concern and a novel variant have been found in India.

India's coronavirus curve had been steadily declining after reaching a peak of 90,000-plus cases in September. However, cases started increasing again last month, with Maharashtra leading the surge.