By Quaid Najmi

Mumbai, May 14 (IANS): Maharashtra on Thursday notched a new high of 1,602 Covid-19 cases and the death toll crossed 1,000, while Mumbai recorded a new high of 991 cases, state health officials said here.

With 44 fatalities - down from Wednesday's highest 54 - the state death toll shot up to 1,019 and the total number of coronavirus patients increased to 27,524, the highest jump of 1,602 after the previous high recorded on May 13.

Of the total deaths, 25 were recorded only in Mumbai, taking up the city's toll from Wednesday's 596 to 621 and the number of Covid-19 positive patients in the city shot up by a new high of 991 to touch 16,738.

Mumbai's Dharavi slum alone continued to be a major hotspot and a headache for the health authorities, notching 33 new cases, taking the total number of patients to 1,061, and 49 deaths till now.

Besides Mumbai, there were 12 deaths in Navi Mumbai (Thane), five deaths in Pune, and two Aurangabad.

They comprised 31 men and 13 women, and nearly 77 percent of them suffered from other serious ailments such as diabetes, hypertension, heart problems and asthma.

On the positive side, 512 more fully cured patients returned home, taking the number of those discharged to 6,059 till date.

Mumbai recorded its 6th and the state its 9th policeman victim when a 45-year old policeman of Shivajinagar Police Station, succumbed to Covid-19 at the MGM Hospital in Navi Mumbai.

Another 1,000-plus police personnel have tested positive and several thousands more are in quarantine around the state.

With the continuous daily spike in Covid-19 cases and deaths in Mumbai grabbing attention, the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) assured the people that besides Coronavirus, the civic body has kept aside 7,500 beds for all other non-Corona diseases at major hospitals in the city and suburbs, maternity hospitals, clinics and nursing homes.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region (Thane Division) continued to cause huge concerns with 681 Covid-19 deaths and cases shooting beyond 20,000 to 20,689, with Thane district notching 36 deaths, Palghar 13 and Raigad 11 fatalities so far.

Pune Division trails a distant second with 198 fatalities and 3,783 patients.

The next major area of concern is Nashik Division with 71 deaths and 1,193 positive cases, followed by Akola Division with 26 deaths and 428 cases, and finally Aurangabad with 20 fatalities and 799 patients.

There's also Kolhapur Division with 5 deaths and 158 patients, Latur Division with 5 fatalities and 94 cases, and finally Nagpur Division with 3 deaths and 339 patients.

Meanwhile, the number of people shunted in home quarantine increased from 298,213 to 315,686, and those in institutional quarantine went up from 14,627 to 15,465, while the state's containment zones increased from 1,439 to 1,512 on Thursday.

As many as 14,253 teams have carried out a survey of a population of around 59 lakhs in the state till date.