Mumbai, Jan 1 (PTI) Maharashtra on Monday reported 70 COVID-19 cases at a positivity rate of 2.09 per cent, down from 131 a day earlier, a health department official said.

There were no deaths due to the ailment, while 32 persons were discharged during the day, he added.

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The state has 693 active cases, of which only 42 are in hospitals, while the remaining are in home isolation, the official said.

Of these 42 persons who are hospitalised, nine are in ICU and 33 are in non-ICU wards, he added.

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Of the 8,76,37,095 samples that have been tested since the pandemic began, a total of 81,72,906 have returned positive at a positivity rate of 9.33 per cent, a health department bulletin said.

A total of 3,347 samples were tested on Monday, comprising 1,454 by the RT-PCR method and 1,893 through RAT test, it said.

The recovery rate in the state stands at 98.17 per cent, the bulletin informed.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)