Mumbai, Aug 26 (PTI)In a worrying trend, coronavirus infections are steadily moving towards rural areas of Maharashtra, reflected in rise in number of fresh cases as well as deaths from these regions, said a senior health department official on Wednesday.

In initial months of the pandemic, most COVID-19 cases were being reported from big cities, large urban and semi- urban centres, but this is slowly changing now.

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At the end of the fifth month of lockdown in the state, rural areas have reported a rise in number of fresh COVID-19 cases as well as deaths, the official said.

So far (till August 25), 7,03,823 cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in Maharashtra, of which 5,07,022 (72.03 per cent) were from municipal corporation areas, he said.

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Similarly, out of 22,794 deaths reported so far in the state, 17,423 (76.43 per cent) have taken place in municipal corporation areas and 5,371 in rural areas. But now the picture is changing, the official said.

With a sizeable number of people travelling to rural areas, the infection has spread there as well followed by more deaths, the official said.

For instance, on August 1, there were 4,22,118 cases of COVID-19 in Maharashtra of which 3,36,740 (79.77 per cent) were from municipal corporation areas.

"Similarly, there were a total of 14,994 deaths in the state (as on August 1) of which 12,543 (83.65 per cent) were from urban areas and 2,451from rural areas, he said.

Numbers show rising rural contribution in fresh COVID-19 cases as well as deaths.

It shows that the coronavirus has spread to rural areas as well. We have to admit that some people have illegally (in violation of lockdown norms) sneaked into rural areas, leading to the spread of the infection, he said. PTI

(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)