The state recorded 7,760 new Covid cases - considerably lower than the July 30 peak of 11,147 - taking up its tally to 457,956 while with the fresh fatalities, its death toll shot up to 16,142 - both highest in the country.

 

According to Tuesday's figures, there was one death roughly every 5 minutes and an alarming 323 new cases every hour.

 

The recovery rate increased for the eighth consecutive day, zooming up from 63.76 per cent to 65.37 per cent on Tuesday, while the mortality rate stood stable at 3.52 per cent.

 

The Health Department said that of the total cases till date, 142,151 are active.

 

A total of 12,326 recovered patients - the highest till date - returned home on Tuesday, taking the total number of discharged patients to 299,356.

 

Of Tuesday's fatalities, Mumbai and Pune accounted for 56 each with Thane following closely with 51.

 

After a lull of four days, Mumbai deaths again rose to the 50-plus range as they increased to 6,549 and the number of cases increased by 709 to 117,406 - but for the second day, new cases hovered below the thousand level.

 

There were also 40 deaths in Kolhapur, 17 in Nagpur, 12 in Jalgaon, 11 in Aurangabad, nine in Nashik, eight in Sangli, six each in Raigad and Latur, five in Palghar, four in Solapur, three each in Dhule, Nanded, and Akola, two each in Ahmednagar, Nandurbar, and Osmanabad, and one each in Satara, Amravati, Buldhana, and Wardha.

 

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region saw its toll shooting up by 118 to cross the 10,000 mark and reach 10,088, while 2,026 new cases took its tally to 251,137.

 

After nearly two months, Pune district edged out Thane for the second spot after Mumbai with 98,876 cases, with the death toll increasing to 2,342 on Tuesday.

 

Thane district cases amount to 98,216 with 2,754 fatalities to make it the third worst-hit district.

 

With 61 more fatalities, the Pune Division's death toll has reached 3,026 and the case tally zoomed up with 2,570 new cases to 113,494.

 

Nashik division has recorded 1,283 fatalities and 38,796 cases, followed by Aurangabad Division with 636 deaths and 18,094 cases, Kolhapur division with 332 fatalities and 12,405 cases, Akola division with 285 fatalities and 8,480 cases, Latur division with 284 fatalities and 7,421 cases, and Nagpur division with 156 deaths and 7,689 cases.