In Highest Spike, Maharashtra Reports 1,008 Coronavirus Cases In A Day

Maharashtra on Friday reported 1,008 new coronavirus cases, the highest single-day spike so far. The state's total crossed the 11,500-mark including 485 deaths; 26 in the last 24 hours.

Mumbai, the worst-hit city in the country, added 751 new cases to its tally, taking the total to 7,812. Five COVID-19 patients died on Friday, news agency PTI reported, taking the number of COVID-19 deaths in the metropolis to 295.

With 106 patients discharged on Friday, total recoveries in the state stands at 1,879.

On Friday, ten deaths were reported from Pune city, five in Mumbai, three is Jalgaon district and one each in Pune, Sindhudurg, Bhiwandi, Thane, Nanded, Aurangabad and Parbhani districts. 15 of the 26 patients who died had comorbidities.

In Mumbai, 95 patients were discharged in 24 hours.

Currently 1,63,026 people are in home quarantine while 11,677 are in institutional quarantine, the government statement said.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday said the lockdown rules will not be relaxed in haste.

"We will surely give relaxations after May 3 seeing the condition of specific areas but be cautious and co-operate, else whatever we have achieved in the past few days will be lost. So, we will go ahead with patience and caution," Mr Thackeray said in  a webcast.

The nationwide coronavirus lockdown will be extended by two more weeks from May 4, the government said on Friday, noting significant gains from the six-week shutdown in India's fight to slow the spread of COVID-19.

With inputs from PTI