Mumbai, Jul 9 (IANS): For the second day running, Maharashtra's new Covid-19 cases continued in the 6,000-plus range, shooting above the 2.25 lakh mark, while fresh deaths again crossed the 200 mark, officials said here on Thursday.

The new Covid cases in the state increased from 6,603 to 6,875 Thursday, but remained lower by 199 from the highest one-day count of 7,074 cases notched on July 4.

The number of fatalities in the state soared in the high ranges - going up from the July-lowest of 125 to 219 - but remained below the previous top toll of 295 notched on July 4.

With Thursday's 219 fatalities, the state death toll climbed from 9,448 to 9,667 today and the total cases zoomed above the 2.25 lakh mark to touch 230,599 till date, both being the highest in the country.

Presently, Maharashtra's total Covid cases have exceeded South Africa's 224,665, which ranks 13 as per the Worldometer data.

With Thursday's figures, there was one death recorded roughly every 7 minutes and a whopping 286 new cases notched every hour in the state.

The recovery rate in the state improved marginally from 55.06 per cent to 55.19 per cent Thursday, while the mortality (death) rate stood at 4.19 per cent.

The health department said of the total number of cases declared till date, 93,652 are aactive cases (ill) today - and this number is lower (favourable) vis-a-vis the number of patients cured, indicating a positive sign.

On the positive side, 4,067 fully cured patients returned home Thursday - taking the number of those discharged above the 1.25 lakhs mark to touch 127,259 now - considerably higher than the 93,652 active cases currently in the state.

Of the total 219 fatalities in the state, Mumbai alone accounted for 68 deaths, pulling up the city toll from 5,064 to 5,132 now, while the number of Covid-19 positive patients shot up by 1,268 cases to touch 89,124.

Besides Mumbai's 68 deaths, there 66 fatalities in Thane, 27 in Pune, 17 in Raigad, 8 each in Palghar and Solapur, 7 in Jalgaon, 4 in Nashik, 3 in Satara, 2 each in Ahmednagar, Nandurbar and Nagpur, one each in Latur, Jalna, Amravati, Nanded, and one from another state.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray called upon Thane civic bodies to set up Corona Vigilance Committees and after the success in Dharavi, urged Mumbai NGOs to adopt slums and intensify the war against Covid.

Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis who toured several districts in northern Maharashtra urged the people of Aurangabad to adhere to the strict curfew that has been implemented there, besides urging for more efforts to curb the Covid cases in the mofussil areas of the state.

The MMR (Thane Division) continues to be tense as deaths and cases pile up, with a total of 6,918 Covid-19 fatalities and a staggering 4,084 new patients, pushing up the number of cases to 159,662 Thursday.

Thane cases have touched 54,811 with 1,483 fatalities - to emerge as the second worst-hit district after Mumbai in the state.

Pune district continues to surge ahead by notching 33,394 patients and 989 deaths till now.

The Pune Division (comprising Pune, Solapur and Satara districts) - which has recorded 38,466 patients and 1,382 fatalities - remains behind MMR and Thane district.

The next major region of concern is Nashik Division with 683 fatalities and 13,514 positive cases, followed by Aurangabad Division with 354 deaths and 8,755 cases, and finally Akola Division with 153 fatalities and 3,429 cases.

Kolhapur Division has notched 62 deaths and 2,643 patients, Latur Division had 65 fatalities and 1,568 cases, and finally Nagpur Division recorded 23 deaths and 2,396 cases.

Of the eight divisions in the state, only Kolhapur Division did not report any fatalities Thursday, besides Chandrapur and Bhandara remain the only two districts (out of total 36) with zero Covid deaths so far, though all have notched fresh cases.

Meanwhile, the number of people sent to home-quarantine increased from 638,762 to 649,263 Thursday, while those in institutional quarantine went up from 47,072 to 48,191 on Thursday.