Mumbai, Mar 31 (IANS): The Covid-19 virus tightened its grip in Maharashtra with a staggering 227 new deaths on Wednesday and the case tally crossing the 28 lakh mark, with over 100,000 patients added in just 72 hours, health officials said on Wednesday.

Recording 39,544 new cases, down from the highest 41,404 on March 28, the state tally crossed 28 lakh to reach 28,12,980, the highest in India.

Three days after the death toll cross the 54,000 mark, the state saw 227 more fatalities, taking the toll till date to 54,649, again the worst in the country, amid looming fears of a Lockdown 2.0.

The state recovery rate also dropped from 85.71 per cent on Tuesday to 85.34 per cent, while the death rate worsened from 1.96 per cent a day earlier to 1.94 per cent, and the number of active cases jumped up from 340,542 to 356,243 now.

Mumbai, Pune, Nashik and Nagpur circles remained a cause for huge concern as deaths and cases continue to gallop, followed by the Akola, Aurangabad, Kolhapur and Latur circles.

Of the 227 fatalities, Nagpur led the state with 49 deaths, while 31 died in Pune, 22 in Nanded, 15 in Mumbai, 10 in Ahmednagar, nine each in Nashik and Jalgaon, eight in Jalna, seven in Nandurbar, six each in Thane, Palghar, Raigad, Solapur, Parbhani, and Amravati, four each in Latur, Yavatmal, and Buldhana, three each in Sangli, Beed, and Gondia, two each in Kolhapur, Akola, and Chandrapur, and one each in Aurangabad and Washim, besides two from outside.

Meanwhile, the number of people in home isolation stood at 17,29,816, while those shunted to institutional quarantine reached 17,863 on Wednesday.