Maharashtra reports 76 new Covid-19 cases, Mumbai accounts for 27

The state currently has 425 active cases, with 165 recoveries and seven deaths since January, six of whom had pre-existing health conditions.

Moneycontrol City Desk

May 30, 2025 / 10:09 IST

Covid -19

Maharashtra recorded 76 fresh Covid-19 cases on Thursday, taking the state’s total to 597 since January 1, according to the public health department. Of these, Mumbai reported 27 new infections, followed by Pune (21), Thane (12) and Kalyan (8). Navi Mumbai, Kolhapur, Ahilyanagar and Raigad reported fewer cases.

According to PTI, the state currently has 425 active cases, with 165 recoveries and seven deaths since January, six of whom had pre-existing health conditions. Health officials noted that while cases are rising, most remain mild or asymptomatic, attributing this to widespread vaccination and natural immunity.

The uptick aligns with seasonal respiratory illness trends, prompting heightened surveillance for influenza-like illnesses (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infections (SARI), particularly in urban areas. With monsoon exacerbating such conditions, distinguishing Covid-19 from flu has become crucial, HT reported.

“Both flu and Covid-19 can cause fever, sore throat, cough, cold, headache, body ache and fatigue. But loss of taste and smell is a distinct sign of Covid. Interestingly, flu cases currently seem to have more intense symptoms than Covid. This may be because most people are already vaccinated against Covid,” Dr Dhiraj Bhattad, internal medicine consultant at Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital, was quoted by HT as saying.

Since January, 9,592 tests have been conducted statewide. Authorities continue to monitor clusters, though the low severity of cases has alleviated immediate concerns.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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