India News | Maha Records 36,265 COVID-19 Cases, 36 Pc Rise; 13 Deaths

Mumbai, Jan 6 (PTI) Maharashtra on Thursday recorded 36,265 new coronavirus cases, 36 per cent more than the previous day, and 13 deaths, health department officials said.

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The new cases included 79 Omicron infections.

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Health Minister Rajesh Tope had 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 number of hospitalizations was still low.

Mumbai alone reported 20,181 new COVID-19 cases, a new record for the city, and four deaths.

The state reported 9,727 more cases compared to Wednesday when 26,538 cases had come to light.

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 the state and the restrictions 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, 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.

Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Bharati Pawar on Thursday said she has tested positive for coronavirus.

Pawar is the Lok Sabha member from Dindori in Nashik district of Maharashtra. Hemant Godse, a fellow MP from the district had also 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.

In a related development, a 16-year-old boy in Maharashtra's Nashik district was mistakenly administered a dose of Covishield vaccine instead of Covaxin. As per the Union government's directive, children in this category are supposed to get only Covaxin.

But the boy did not suffer any adverse effects, a local health official said.

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