Coronavirus update | COVID-19 infections on rise in Maharashtra, tally close to 1 lakh again

At present, Pune district has the highest number of active coronavirus cases in Maharashtra at 19,658, followed by Thane and Mumbai at 16,338 and 15,610, respectively.

Moneycontrol News

November 30, 2020 / 08:10 PM IST

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The number of active coronavirus cases in Maharashtra is on the verge of breaching the one lakh mark again. It had only been weeks since Maharashtra, which has been among the states worst affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, was taking a breather and it seems like the pandemic situation is set to worsen once more.

Active COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra crossed the 90,000-mark on November 29 with 5,544 fresh cases being reported. There are 90,997 active cases at present and the count is inching steadily towards the one lakh-mark, while the total coronavirus tally of the state is now 18,20,059. Earlier in November, the active coronavirus cases in Maharashtra had gone down to 78,272.

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At present, Pune district has the highest number of active coronavirus cases in Maharashtra at 19,658, followed by Thane district and Mumbai at 16,338 and 15,610 active COVID-19 infections, respectively.

Maharashtra’s case fatality rate (CFR) at present is 2.59 percent and the total COVID-19 deaths stand at 47,071.

The number of active coronavirus cases in the state may increase further in the coming month as authorities have plans to ramp up testing to detect any increase in infection spread. There was anyway fear among health officials that the number of fresh COVID-19 infections would increase drastically after the festival season concludes, although the current rate of spread is not as much as was feared.

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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