Mumbai, Apr 12 (IANS): In alarm bells for the authorities, Maharashtra on Wednesday recorded over 1,000 new Covid-19 infections and 9 deaths, with Mumbai and Pune remaining the worst-hit, according to the state health authorities here.

The state recorded a whopping 1,115 new patients, taking the number of active cases to 5,421, with the highest 1,577 in Mumbai, followed by 953 in Thane, 776 in Pune, and 548 in Nagpur, while Parhani district has no case.

Of the 9 deaths, five are from Mumbai circle comprising 2 each in Mumbai and Thane and one in Vasai-Virar town, plus three in Pune city and one in Akola.

The Mumbai circle also recorded the maximum number of infections - 590, followed by 190 in Pune circle, 174 in Nagpur circle, 50 in Kolhapur circle, 45 in Akola circle, 37 in Latur circle, 15 in Nashik circle, and 14 in Aurangabad circle 14, officials said.

From the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, the state's cumulative total has shot up to 81,52,291 cases and 1,48,470 deaths, both highest in the country.

Taking precautions to avoid further spread, the health authorities have started random checking of passenger arrivals at Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur international airports from December 24, 2022.

Till date, RT-PCR tests were conducted on 40,250 passengers of which 67 tested positive and have been sent for genome sequencing.

Among the positive passengers are 15 from Mumbai, 12 from Pune, and one each from Thane, Palghar, Aurangabad, Sangli, Amravati, Satara, and Nagpur.

The remaining comprise six from Gujarat, five from Uttar Pradesh, three each from Kerala, Odisha, and West Bengal, two each from Telangana, Rajasthan, and Tamil Nadu, and one each from Delhi, Goa, Assam, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, and Karnataka.

In anticipation of the surge in the coming weeks, the Mumbai and state health authorities have assured that they are in full preparedness to tackle the situation, besides implementing certain precautions for senior citizens, civic staffers, etc.