Mumbai, Jul 13 (IANS): Maharashtra's coronavirus tally crossed the 2.60-lakh mark with 6,497 new cases and the state reported 193 more deaths even as Mumbai notched a case doubling rate of 50 days, the highest in India, officials said here on Monday.
Monday's new cases tally was down from a peak of 8,139 (July 11) and dropped by 1,330 compared with Sunday's 7,827.
The number of fatalities in the state dropped below the 200-mark for the second day, but went up from the July-lowest of 125 to 193 on Monday, though considerably lower than the previous day's record toll of 295 notched on July 4.
With Monday's fatalities, the state's death toll went up from 10,289 a day earlier to 10,482 while the total cases touched 260,924, both highest in the country.
According to Monday's figures, one death was recorded roughly every 7 minutes and a staggering 271 new cases every hour in the state.
The recovery rate in the western state increased marginally from 55.15 per cent a day earlier to 55.38 per cent on Monday, while the mortality (death) rate stood at 4.02 per cent.
The Health Department said that of the total cases till date, 105,637 are 'active cases' (ill) and that this number is lower (favourable) vis-a-vis the number of patients cured, indicating a positive sign.
On the positive side, 4,182 cured patients returned home on Monday, taking the total discharged patients to 144,507, considerably higher than the 105,637 'active cases' in the state.
Of the 193 fatalities, Thane accounted for 59 deaths, and for the fifth time this month shot past Mumbai which notched 47 fatalities during the day.
Mumbai death toll now is up from 5,288 to 5,335, while the number of corona patients in the city shot up by 1,158 cases to touch 94,146.
On Monday, 30 new fatalities were reported in Pune, 10 in Nashik, 8 in Jalgaon, 7 in Solapur, 6 in Palghar, 5 in Raigad, 3 each in Aurangabad, Osmanabad and Sangli, 2 each in Ahmednagar, Dhule, Latur and Akola, besides 1 each in Amravati, Washim, Nagpur and Bhandara.
BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Municipal Commissioner I.S. Chahal announced on Monday that Mumbai achieved a landmark of Covid doubling rate at 50 days -- the highest in the country.
Mumbai's dabbawalas held 'pooja' ceremonies to pray for the quick recovery of Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan and his family members, and other Covid-19 patients in the country, besides giving strength to all Corona Warriors fighting the pandemic.
The MMR (Thane division) remains on edge as deaths spiral and cases pile up, with the current toll at 7,398 and a staggering 3,807 new patients, pushing up the number of cases above the 1.75 lakh-mark to touch 176,867 on Monday.
Thane cases have touched 63,778 with 1,705 fatalities to emerge as the second worst-hit district after Mumbai in the state.
Pune district continues to zoom ahead by notching 40,180 cases, with the death toll increasing from 1,097 a day earlier to 1,127 on Monday.
The Pune division's (comprising Pune, Solapur and Satara districts) death toll reached 1,546 with 46,273 patients - but remains far behind MMR and Thane district.
The next major region of concern is Nashik division with 764 fatalities and 16,042 positive cases, followed by Aurangabad division with 395 deaths and 10,071 cases, and Akola division with 166 fatalities and 3,788 cases.
Kolhapur division has notched 73 deaths and 2,988 patients, Latur Division had 81 fatalities and 1,955 cases, and Nagpur division recorded 28 deaths and 2,738 cases.
All the eight divisions in the state recorded fatalities on Monday, and with Bhandara district notching its first fatality during the day. Only Chandrapur (out of total 36) remains a zero Covid death district, though all have notched fresh cases.
Meanwhile, the number of people sent to home-quarantine increased from 686,150 a day earlier to 687,353 now, while those in institutional quarantine fell down sharply from 47,801 to 41,660 on Monday.