Mumbai, Apr 1 (IANS): Covid-19 continued to wreak havoc with both Maharashtra and Mumbai reporting record high infections and a staggering 249 deaths, a day after the case tally crossed the 28 lakh mark, health officials said here on Thursday.

The state recorded 43,183 new cases, surpassing the previous highest of 41,404 registered on March 28, taking the tally to to 28,56,163, the highest in India.

There were 249 fresh fatalities, taking the toll to 54,898, again the worst in the country, amid looming fears of a Lockdown 2.0.

Over two million people are in quarantine, either at home or in institutions, as the state grapples to control the infection.

Simultaneously, the state recovery rate dropped to 85.02 per cent, while the death rate worsened to 1.92 per cent, and the number of active cases jumped up from 356,243 to 366,533 now.

Mumbai, Pune, Nashik and Nagpur circles continued to cause worries on account of the zooming figures of deaths and infections, followed by Aurangabad, Latur, Akola and Kolhapur circles.

The country's commercial capital, Mumbai has recorded its highest infections so far, at 8,646, taking up the tally to 423,419, besides total fatalities of 11,708.

The Mumbai circle - comprising Mumbai, Thane, Palghar and Raigad districts - notched its highest 14,786 new cases, taking the total to 903,861, with 20,321 deaths so far.

As cases continued to soar in the state capital, the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has sealed a whopping 650 buildings, including one wing of the posh Maker Towers in Cuffe Parade, besides 80 slums/chawls across the city, to curb the spread of the virus.

Of the 249 fatalities, Nagpur led the state with 60 deaths, while 35 succumbed in Aurangabad, 19 in Nashik, 18 each in Mumbai and Pune, 15 in Nanded, 10 each in Thane and Nandurbar.

There were nine deaths in Ahmednagar, seven in Beed, five each in Raigad and Solapur, four each in Parbhani, Latur, and Osmanabad, three each in Jalgaon, Kolhapur, Sangli, Hingoli, and Akola, two each in Amravati and Wardha, and one each in Palghar, Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri, Jalna, Washim, Bhandara, and Chandrapur.

Meanwhile, the number of people sent to home isolation shot up to 19,09,498, while those shunted to institutional quarantine increased to 18,432 on Thursday.