Maharashtra reported its highest single-day spike of 8,641 new COVID-19 cases today, which pushed the tally of patients in the state to 2,84,281.

According to the state health department, the death of 266 patients today took the fatality count in the state to 11,194.It said as many as 5,527 patients recovered from the infection and discharged during the day. With this, the number of recovered persons has grown to 1,58,140.

There are 1,14,907 active cases in the state now. So far, 14,46,386 people have been tested for COVID-19 in the state.

Recently, In a bid to curb the spread of Coronavirus, a fortnight-long “strict” lockdown was imposed in Latur city in the Marathwada region from the midnight of July 15. The further guidelines on the lockdown will be shared on Monday evening. Notably, the district has so far reported 682 coronavirus positive cases and 33 deaths. 

“The lockdown will start from July 15 midnight and end on July 30. The essential and emergency services will continue to operate. However, liquor shops will be shut from Monday itself,” Collector G Shreekant said.

“The lockdown will be strict and the fine for not following the norms is higher than what was during the previous lockdown,” Shreekant said.

The decision about the lockdown in rural parts of Latur district will be taken after a meeting of public representatives on Monday, he said.

“During the lockdown, we plan to collect the swabs of suspected patients from their homes through our teams,” he said.

Earlier in the day, the Bhiwandi Nizampur City Municipal Corporation (BNCMC) in Thane district of Maharashtra had extended the ongoing lockdown in the township till July 19. The ongoing lockdown in Bhiwandi had started on July 2 and was to end Sunday midnight.

The Vartak Nagar ward committee of the Thane civic administration on Sunday issued an order prohibiting all activities, except for the sale of medicines and milk, in Shivaji Nagar, Ganesh Nagar, Sainath Nagar and Misalwadi till further notice after spurt in COVID-19 cases in these areas.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance has released an amount of over 15187 crore rupees as grants-in-aid to 2.63 lakh Rural Local Bodies (RLBs) spread in 28 States of the country. Giving this information, Union Minister of Panchayati Raj, Narendra Singh Tomar said that the release of this fund to the Rural Local Bodies signifies the most appropriate timing when they are fighting the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic situation. He said the availability of the fund with the RLBs will boost their effectiveness in the delivery of basic services to the rural citizens. Mr. Tomar said it would also empower them in providing gainful employment to migrant laborers who have returned to their native places owing to the COVID-19 pandemic situation as well as in augmenting rural infrastructure in a constructive way.