Amid mounting concerns over surge in Covid-19 cases, 338 resident doctors from various hospitals in Maharashtra have tested positive for Covid-19 in the last four days.

“A total of 338 resident doctors from various hospitals have tested positive for Covid-19 in the last four days," the President of Maharashtra State Association of Resident Doctors (MARD), Dr Avinash Dahiphale told ANI.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra logged 36,265 new coronavirus cases, 36 per cent more than the previous day with Mumbai alone registering 20,181 infections, a fresh record for the city, while 13 more patients succumbed to the disease, health department officials said. 

The new cases included 79 Omicron infections, taking the tally of those infected with the variant to 797. With these additions, the state's coronavirus tally rose to 67,93,297, while the death toll increased to 1,41,594. Health Minister Rajesh Tope said earlier in the day that the state government has not yet considered shutting down local trains in Mumbai and imposing inter-district travel restrictions as the number of hospitalisations was still low. 

He ruled out the possibility of a lockdown in the state at this point of time. Mumbai alone reported 20,181 COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, a new record for the city, and four more deaths. The slum-dominated and densely populated Dharavi area of Mumbai recorded 107 new coronavirus cases, highest since the pandemic began in March 2020, civic officials said. 

The previous record of daily cases in the area was 99, recorded on April 8, 2021, during the second wave of the pandemic. The state reported 9,727 more cases compared to Wednesday when 26,538 infections had come to light. A health department bulletin said 1,70,429 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, taking their cumulative number in the state to 6,99,47,436. The state's active cases stand at 1,14,847, it added. 

Tope and additional chief secretary (health) Pradeep Vyas met NCP president Sharad Pawar, whose party is part of the ruling combine, and discussed the coronavirus situation in Maharashtra and the restrictions currently in force. In Mumbai, the hospitalisation rate has not increased significantly and 80 per cent of hospital beds in the city were still unoccupied, Tope told reporters. 

A similar rise in infections had been seen during the second wave too last year, but this time around the demand for medical oxygen and the number of deaths have not increased, which was a positive sign, he added. The new infections are seen to be affecting the upper respiratory tract, including the nose and throat, more, and not so much the lungs, the health minister said. 

Additionally, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Bharati Pawar on Thursday said she has tested positive for coronavirus. Bharati Pawar is the Lok Sabha member from Dindori in Nashik district of Maharashtra. Hemant Godse, a fellow MP from the district, had tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday. On the inoculation drive against coronavirus, the health department said 13,64,60,096 doses have been administered in the state so far. Of this, 3,16,746 doses were administered to children in the age group of 15-17 years. 

(With inputs from agencies)