COVID-19 in Maharashtra: 229 students, three staffers test positive at Washim hostel

At least 229 students and three staffers at a single hostel in a school in Maharashtra's Washim have tested positive for novel coronavirus. A total of 327 students belonging to Akola, Amravati, Buldhana, Hingoli, Nanded, and Washim live in this hostel.

The school premises have been declared a containment zone. Maharashtra has reported 5,955 new cases in a single day on Wednesday, the biggest spike in four months. As the state is witnessing a rise in the daily coronavirus count, the state government and Mumbai police have warned people of strict measures over non-compliance of COVID-19 related protocol and restrictions.

The number of COVID-19 cases in the state has peaked at 21,21,119 and 51,937 people have succumbed to the disease so far, according to Health Ministry's COVID-19 dashboard.

India reported 16, 738 new cases and 138 deaths in the last 24 hours. The country's COVID-19 toll has reached 1,10,46,914 while active cases surpassed the 1.50 lakh-mark at 1,51,708.

Meanwhile, the West Bengal government has made negative COVID-19 reports mandatory for travellers from Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, and Telangana due to the surge in COVID-19 tally of these respective states.  As per these guidelines which will be in effect from February 27, passengers from these states will have to undergo RT-PCR tests within 72 hours of flight departure.