Coronavirus Pandemic | 12 New COVID-19 Cases In Maharashtra, State Tally Goes Up To 193

The total number of OVID-19 cases in Maharashtra has gone up to 193 with 12 more people testing positive for coronavirus, a health official said on Sunday. Out of the 12 new patients, five have been reported from Pune, four from Mumbai and one each from Sangli, Jalgaon and Nagpur, the official said.

Mumbai leads in the number of positive patients in the state 77.

Sangli has 25 cases, Pune-24, Pimpri Chinchwad-12, Nagpur 12,Kalyan-Dombivali-seven, Navi Mumbai-six, Thane-five, Yavatmal and Vasai-Virar-four each, Ahmednagar-three, Satara and Panvel-two each, Ulhasnagar, Aurangabad, Ratnagiri, Pune rural, Sindhudurg, Palghar, Kolhapur, Gondia and Jalgon one each. One patient hails from Gujarat.

India, the world's third largest energy consumer, has enough petrol, diesel and cooking gas (LPG) in stocks to last way beyond the three-week nationwide lockdown as all plants and supply locations are fully operational, Indian Oil Corp (IOC) Chairman Sanjiv Singh said.

Singh, who continued to oversee the mammoth operations of ensuring that fuel reaches every nook and corner despite bereavement of his father on the day 21-day lockdown was declared, said there is no shortage of any fuel in the country and customers should not resort to panic booking of LPG refills.

“We have mapped demand for all fuel for entire April and beyond. We have refineries operating at levels enough to meet all of the demand. Besides all bulk storage points, LPG distributorships and petrol pumps are functioning normally. There is absolutely no shortage of any fuel,” he told PTI.

The nationwide lockdown that has shut businesses, suspended flights, stopped trains and brought almost entire vehicular movement to a halt, has impacted fuel demand with petrol, diesel and aviation turbine fuel (ATF) showing negative growth (degrowth or fall in demand).

With most cars and two-wheelers going off the road, petrol demand has fallen by 8 per cent in March while diesel demand has been down 16 per cent. ATF demand has fallen by 20 per cent, he said.

“LPG consumption however continues to grow and we are servicing all customers,” he said adding refill demand saw more than 200 per cent jump as the lockdown was announced.

The refills sought were a result of panic booking as in the absence of the exhausting existing ones, many could not take deliveries of new cylinders, he said adding even customers with double cylinder connections had ordered for refills without exhausting even one cylinder.

“There is absolutely no need for panic booking. We have enough stocks to meet all demand,” he said.