COVID-19: Number of persons tested positive in Maharashtra rises to 41

Two people tested positive for COVID-19 in the state today - one person from Pimpri-Chinchwad in Pune and other from Mumbai - taking the total number of positive cases in the state to 41, Public Health department of Maharashtra said.

Both persons have a travel history of USA. A 49-year-old from Mumbai who returned from the USA on March 7 has tested positive. A 26-year-old person from Pimpri-Chinchwad who returned from the USA on March 14 has tested positive.

The government informed about the isolation facilities in view of COVID-19 available in the hospitals.

Deepak Mhaisekar, Divisional Commissioner of Pune said: "Presently, we have 290 beds available for ICU facility including government and private hospitals. For isolation facility, we have 263 beds and we are adding 160 more beds so we will have 423 beds available with us for isolation facility."

"For quarantine facility, we already have 520 beds available with us and we are adding 250 more beds, so we will have 770 beds for quarantine facility now," he added.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said that public transport will remain open in the state and no government offices will be closed.

"Trains and buses are essential services so we are not stopping them as of now but if people don't listen to our advice and don't avoid unnecessary travel, then we will think about that too. We are thinking of reducing the staff by 50 per cent in government offices. The next 15-20 days are very crucial for us," he told reporters in Mumbai.

A total of 137 positive cases of coronavirus have been reported in India so far.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic and said that Europe has emerged as the new epicentre of the disease.