70-yr-old Covid-19 patient dies in Dharavi, tally of positive cases at 17

The death toll in the area rose to three

A 70-year-old coronavirus patient died while three new cases of the infection were found in Mumbai's Dharavi, one of the biggest slums in Asia, on Thursday, civic officials said.

Three people have died of the disease as the number of positive cases increased to 17 on Thursday.

A resident of Kalyanwadi locality who had tested positive for coronavirus died at civic body run KEM Hospital, said an official of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

Two men -- 58 and 30 years old, respectively -- from Mukund Nagar and a 55-year-old man who lives near Dr Baliga Nagar (where four cases were found earlier) tested positive on Thursday, he added.

Tracing of high-risk contacts of infected persons is going on, and the localities where the new patients were found will be sealed, the civic official said.

The number of coronavirus cases in Maharashtra jumped to 1,346 on Thursday with an increase of 211 cases, health minister Rajesh Tope said.

This is the highest increase in the number of cases recorded in a single day in the state.

Over 80 per cent of Maha's Covid-19  cases recorded in April

Data released by the Union Health Ministry reveals that 80.61 per cent of positive Covid-19  cases in Maharashtra were detected in the first eight days of April.

The number of cases in the state as of Wednesday was 1,135. By Thursday afternoon it had risen to 1,297 with 162 new cases being reported.

Till March 31, the state's official Covid-19  count was 220, which jumped by 915 (80.61 per cent) by April 8.

The first three coronavirus cases were reported in Maharashtra on March 9 when the state legislature's budget session was underway.

The tally crossed 100 on March 23. The daily increase soon entered in double digits, except on March 26 when only two new cases were reported.