New high: 811 cases in a day in Maharashtra, 602 in Mumbai

Of the 22 people whose deaths were included in Saturday’s count, 13 died in Mumbai, five in Pune and one each in Malegaon, Pimpri Chinchwad, Dhule and Solapur. Overall, the state has reported 323 deaths.

The Mumbai Police constable passed away on Friday at Nair hospital. “This is the first death of a police personnel in Mumbai due to coronavirus,” police spokesperson DCP Pranaya Ashok said.

The constable was posted at Vakola police station. His son and wife are in home quarantine. He was taken to Kasturba hospital when he complained of high fever on April 22. But the hospital had no beds and referred him to Nair hospital. His brother said, “On Friday morning, his test results came positive. Around 6 pm, he passed away. He did not have any other illness.”

The final rites of the constable were conducted early Saturday in the presence of his elder brother.

Of the 22 people who died in the state, half were above 60 years old, eight were in the age group of 40 to 59 and three below 40. The toll has touched across Maharashtra. There are 555 containment zones in state, with most in Mumbai.

BMC officials said they have collected plasma from three patients who have recovered and are screening five more for the same. The process of identifying critical patients who match the blood type and require plasma therapy is underway. A plasma pheresis machine has been installed in Nair hospital to collect plasma from recovered patients.

The BMC has also begun a door-to-door survey to check oxygen saturation with pulse oximeter among senior citizens. Those with low oxygen saturation levels will be referred for further tests.

On Saturday, 119 people who had recovered were discharged in Mumbai. Across the state, 1,076 patients have recovered, which is 14 per cent of total patient load.

Yavatmal, meanwhile, also saw a huge single-day jump with 20 new cases being reported. With this, the cumulative tally in the district has gone up to 44, next only to Nagpur where tally reached 107 on Saturday. Amravati has emerged as the biggest hotspot in Vidarbha, with five deaths being reported so far.