Mumbai News Updates: Maharashtra records 58,924 positive cases, 351 deaths

A BJP delegation on Mondayapproached Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari seeking dismissal of Minority Affairs Minister Nawab Malik from the state cabinet for raising a "baseless" allegation that the Centre had blocked the supply of Remdesivir injections to the state.BJP MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar, who led the delegation, told reporters that Malik tried to create distrust among the people about the Centre by making such allegations.Bhatkhalkar said the delegation requested the governor to remove Malik using his special powers if the state government does not register an FIR against the senior NCP leader. (PTI)

The Health Department stated that Maharashtra witnessed a dip in its daily COVID-19 count by recording 58,924 fresh infections; a day after reporting the highest number of 68,631 cases on Sunday.However, 351 people succumbed to the deadly virus in the last 24 hours. The overall case tally in Maharashtra now stands at 38,98,262 while the death toll is 60,824.Maharashtra has 6,76,520 active cases presently. The recovery rate in the state is 81.04 per cent.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday warmly welcomed the Centre's decision to allow vaccination for all citizens above the age of 18.

The first "Oxygen Express"carrying seven empty tankers left for Visakhapatnam, where they will be loaded with liquid oxygen for transportation to Maharashtra, from near here on Monday, the Central Railway (CR) said.According to a Central Railway release, the Ro- RO(roll-on-roll-off) train with seven empty tankers left for the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant from Kalamboli goods yard, about 40km from here in Navi Mumbai, at 8.05 pm.The release said at the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, the tankers will be loaded with liquid medical oxygen and brought to Maharashtra, which is facing a shortage of the life-saving gas needed for treatment of critical COVID-19 patients. (PTI)

A day after logging the highest68,631 COVID-19 cases, Maharashtra on Monday witnessed a dip in its daily count by recording 58,924 fresh infections and 351 deaths, the state health department said.The overall case tally in Maharashtra now stands at 38,98,262 while the toll is 60,824, it said.The state is now left with 6,76,520 active cases.Of the 351 fatalities, 220 were from the last 48 hours and 85 from the last week.A total of 52,412 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, taking the count of recoveries in Maharashtra so far to 31,59,240, the department said in a statement. (PTI)

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) stated that Mumbai city has reported 7381 positive cases on Monday (April 19).

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut onMonday met NCP chief Sharad Pawar at the latter's residence here and discussed the COVID-19 situation as well as political issues."Why should I not discuss political issues with Pawar saheb? He is such a big political leader. We are in politics. So, discussions were held on political developments," Raut said.He said the NCP chief is "concerned" about the COVID-19 scenario in the country. (PTI)

The BMC has asked all oxygen manufacturers and distributors to work on ‘Mission Mode’ to ensure that there is adequate oxygen supply in civic and private hospitals in Mumbai.

Maharashtra State Bank Employees Federation (MSBEF) said it will launch a state-wide campaign on Tuesday against the Centre's proposal to privatise some state-run banks.In the Union Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced privatisation of two state-run banks as part of the government's disinvestment plan for the fiscal 2021-22.Through the public campaign, members of the bank employees' federation will seek support from people across all the districts against the privatisation move, MSBEF said in a statement on Monday. In view of the restrictions on account of COVID-19, the members will use various audio-visual mediums to reach out to the people for their support. (PTI)

Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope got vaccinated at JJ hospital in Mumbai. He had tested positive for COVID19 in February. Hence, he had to wait for a few weeks before he could get vaccinated.

The Mumbai Bharatiya Janata Party President and legislator M. P. Lodha on Monday demanded action against Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad for allegedly threatening Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis after a row erupted over the seizure of a Remdesivir stock on Saturday-Sunday night.

Composer Shravan Rathod, of popular music director duo Nadeem-Shravan, has been admitted to a city hospital in a "critical" condition after testing positive for COVID-19, his son said on Monday.The 66-year-old composer is currently under observation at SL Raheja hospital, his son, musician Sanjeev Rathod, told PTI."He had tested positive for COVID-19 and was admitted to SL Raheja hospital in Mahim. He is extremely critical right now. He has other comorbidities also."Doctors have said they would keep him under observation for the next 24 hours. Please pray for his recovery," Sanjeev Rathod said. (PTI)

The rupee plunged by 52 paise to close at 74.87 against the US dollar on Monday as fresh lockdown measures by some states to control spiralling cases of COVID-19 unnerved investors and stoked fears of forex outflows.Losses in the domestic equity markets also weighed on the rupee which was the worst performer among Asian currencies on Monday, analysts said.At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened lower at 74.80 against the greenback and touched a low of 75.05 in day trade. Weakness in the US dollar and losses in crude oil, however, capped the rupee's fall and the local unit recovered some of the losses to close at 74.87, registering a fall of 52 paise over its previous close. (PTI)

Bollywood actress Sameera Reddy on Monday said her two children and husband, entrepreneur Akshai Varde, have also tested positive for the novel coronavirus, a day after she opened up about her COVID diagnosis.