Maharashtra conducts genome sequencing tests on samples from Covid patients. (File)
Bombay:
Maharashtra today registered 27 new cases of the Delta Plus COVID-19 variant, bringing the total number of Delta Plus cases in the state to 103, according to the state health department.
Meanwhile, of the 188 samples from the first batch sent to Kasturba Hospital in Mumbai for genome sequencing of COVID-19-positive patients in the capital, 128 have been identified with the Delta variant – 68 percent of the samples.
Two samples, or 1.06 percent of the samples, were detected with the Alpha variant, while 24 samples, or 12.76 percent, had traces of the Kappa variant.
Maharashtra regularly conducts genome sequence testing of samples from COVID-19 positive patients to determine the extent of spread of mutants of the virus.
The state recorded a total of 3,643 new coronavirus-positive cases today, the lowest since Feb. 15 this year, and 105 deaths as 6,795 patients recovered, a health department official said.
The number of active cases in Maharashtra fell below 50,000 to 49,924. Maharashtra had reported 3,365 new cases as of February 15.
The total number of COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra rose to 64,28,294 and the death toll to 1,36067. The number of recoveries has risen to 62,38,794, the official said.
Maharashtra’s recovery rate now stands at 97.05 percent while the death rate is 2.11 percent. With 1,53,558 new tests, the number of samples tested so far in Maharashtra has risen to 5,24,45689, the official said.
Out of the eight regions of Maharashtra, the Pune region reported the highest 1,628 new COVID-19 cases, followed by 757 cases from the Kolhapur region. Of the other regions, the Nashik region reported 628 new cases, while Mumbai reported 481.