Mumbai, Jan 5 (IANS): Maharashtra's single-day fresh Covid-19 caseload shot above 26,000, while its Omicron variant breached the 100-mark, though deaths plummeted to a single-digit figure, health officials said here on Wednesday.

For the ninth consecutive day, the state reported a massive spike in Covid infections and suspect cases, whose samples have been sent for genome sequencing.

The state's Covid count shot up sharply -- from 18,466 on Tuesday to 26,538 on Wednesday – while fatalities decreased from 20 a day earlier to just 8 now, as its mortality rate stood at 2.09 per cent.

After recording 75 Omicron infections on Tuesday, the state logged a staggering 144 more cases of the variant on Wednesday, taking up the state's tally to 797, with Mumbai again reporting the highest number of fresh cases at 100, followed by 13 in Pune, 11 each in Thane and Nagpur, 5 in Kolhapur, 2 in Amravati, and 1 each in Raigad and Osmanabad.

The health authorities are continuing with their intensive surveillance of passengers arriving at the three international airports -- at Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur -- since December 1.

A total of 34,108 travellers landed here from the ‘high risk' countries, of which 337 have tested positive, apart from 336 from other countries, and all their samples have been sent for genomic sequencing to confirm if they are afflicted by Omicron.

Besides, another 2,541 samples from field surveys conducted since November 1 were sent for genomic sequencing of which the results of 102 are awaited, the officials said.

Omicron has spread extensively spanning several districts of the state, accounting for as many as 797 cases so far.

Mumbai accounts for the maximum of 508 cases, followed by 148 in Pune, 56 in Thane, 24 in Nagpur, 18 in Raigad, 10 in Kolhapur, 8 in Satara, 6 in Osmanabad, 4 in Palghar, 3 each in Amravati and Nanded, 2 each in Buldhana, Aurangabad and Sangli, and 1 each in Akola, Latur and Ahmednagar.

Of the 26,538 new Covid-19 cases reported on Wednesday, Mumbai Metropolitan Region alone accounted for 21,738 infections, with Mumbai city shooting past the 15,000-mark with 15,166 new cases.

The next is Pune Circle's 3,052 infectees, while all other districts moved up to triple-digit figures of infections with Nashik Circle at 655, Nagpur Circle 488, Kolhapur Circle 237, Latur Circle 139, Aurangabad Circle 115 and Akola Circle at 114.

The number of people sent to home quarantine also shot up by over one lakh, from 398,391 on Tuesday to 513,758 on Wednesday, while another 1,366 persons have been shunted to institutional quarantine.

Mumbai, Pune and Thane remain at the top with the highest number of active cases, with the afflictions shooting up sharply from 66,308 a day earlier to 87,505 on Wednesday, with recovery rate dropping from 96.86 per cent a day earlier to 96.55 per cent now.

The state's cumulative figures of Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic stands at 67,57,032 cases and 141,581 deaths, while 65,24,247 persons have fully recovered till date.