The daily tally was he second-highest after 10,576 on July 22, as fresh cases soared in the 8,000-plus range in the second half of July. The number of deaths continued to remain in the 200-plus range, with Thursday's 298, crossing the 295 toll on July 4.

 

With the fresh fatalities, the state's death toll went up to 12,854, while the total cases touched 347,502 - both highest in the country.

 

According to Thursday's figures, there was one death roughly every 5 minutes and a stupendous 412 new cases every hour.

 

After three consecutive days of a falling recovering rate, Thursday saw an increase from 54.62 per cent a day earlier to 55.09 per cent, while the current mortality rate stood at 3.07 per cent.

 

The Health Department said that of the total cases till date, 140,092 are active.

 

A total of 5,552 recovered patients returned home on Thursday, taking the total number of discharged patients to 187,769.

 

Of the total 298 fatalities, Pune notched the highest 78 deaths, while Mumbai recorded 55 deaths, taking up the toll in the country's commercial capital to 5,930 while the number of corona cases increased by 1,245 to touch 105,923 now.

 

There were also 47 fatalities in Thane, 25 in Palghar, 15 in Nashik, 14 in Jalgaon, 10 in Aurangabad, six in Latur, five in Sangli, four each in Kolhapur, Nanded and Hingoli, three each in Raigad, Solapur, Beed and Jalna, two each in Dhule, Ratnagiri, Amravati and Yavatmal, and one each in Ahmednagar, Satara, Parbhani, Osmanabad, Akola and Nagpur, besides 6 from other states.

 

In a highlight, Mumbai, with 6,733 active containment zones in slums, chawls and buildings, notched a recovery rate of 72 per cent and a case doubling rate of 61 days.

 

The BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation unveiled 3 specially-fitted and equipped auto-rickshaws for Covid-19 duties which can enter into narrow lanes to cater to suspect cases, in the presence of Municipal Commissioner I.S. Chahal, former Union Minister Milind Deora and local MLA Amin Patel.

 

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, who inaugurated the state's 131st Covid testing lab in Osmanabad, said Maharashtra will offer world-class health facilities for corona patients.

 

The MMR (Thane division) saw deaths spiral and cases pile up, with the current toll increasing by 130 to reach 8,649 and a staggering 3,972 new cases pushing up the number to 213,950.

 

Thane's cases have touched 81,708 with 2,193 fatalities, making it the second worst-hit district after Mumbai.

 

Pune district has 66,538 cases, with the death toll increasing to 1,592 on Thursday.

 

With 78 more deaths, the Pune division's death toll crossed has reached 2,099 and the case tally touched 76,242.

 

Nashik division has 992 fatalities and 24,957 cases, followed by Aurangabad division with 509 deaths and 13,367 cases, Akola division with 209 fatalities and 5,624 cases, Kolhapur division with 151 deaths and 5,710 cases, Latur division with 156 fatalities and 3,421 cases, and Nagpur division recorded 46 deaths and 3,928 cases.

 

All the eight divisions recorded fatalities on Thursday, while Chandrapur remains a zero-Covid-death district till date.

 

Meanwhile, the number of people sent to home quarantine increased to 874,267, while those in institutional quarantine went up to 45,222.