Mumbai, May 10 (IANS): For the second day running, Maharashtra saw Covid-19 cases and fatalities drop even as the Mumbai situation visibly improved, health officials said on Monday.

Compared with 572 deaths on Sunday, fatalities went down to 549, taking the state's toll to 76,398.

The number of new infections remained below the 50,000 level, going down from 48,401 on Sunday to 37,236 now, taking the total tally to 51,38,973.

The Mumbai position continued to be encouraging, with infections remaining below the 5,000 level, at 1,782, as the tally rose to 677,412. Daily deaths rose up from 68 on Sunday to 74 now, taking the total fatalities in the country's commercial capital to 13,855 now.

For the ninth day straight, the state death rate remained stable at 1.49 per cent, while the number of active cases fell below the six lakh mark, to 590,818.

Meanwhile, 61,607 fully cured patients -- higher than the number of fresh infections -- returned home, taking the total up to 44,69,425 now, and the recovery rate increased from 86.04 per cent to 86.97 per cent now.

The Mumbai circle - comprising Mumbai, Thane, Palghar and Raigad districts - recorded a steep drop in new cases, to 4,883, taking the tally to 14,51,787, and with 132 more deaths, the toll reached 24,863 now.

Of the new deaths, apart from Mumbai's 74, 51 succumbed in Latur, 42 each in Thane and Beed, 29 in Nanded, 28 in Ahmednagar, 26 in Kolhapur, 25 each in Buldhana and Nagpur, 22 in Solapur, 20 in Chandrapur, 19 in Amravati, 17 in Jalna, 16 each in Raigad and Yavatmal, 15 in Jalgaon, 12 each in Sangli and Akola, 11 in Osmanabad, 10 in Pune, eight in Nandurbar, seven in Parbhani, six in Satara, four in Washim, three in Sindhudug, two each in Dhule, Ratnagiri, and Gondia, and one each in Nashik, Wardha, and Bhandara.

Meanwhile, the number of people sent to home isolation stood at 36,70,320 now, while those shunted to institutional quarantine at 26,664.