Mumbai: In span of just 72 hours, Maharashtra reported 1,40,457 fresh COVID-19 cases, highest than any other states in India.

For the third straight consecutive day, the novel coronavirus created havoc with Maharashtra reporting record highs of infections and deaths, according to the health department, here on Saturday.

Number of cases found in last three days in state:

Saturday: 49,447

Friday: 47,827

Thursday: 43,183

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, who has warned of strict curbs to be announced shortly, took the stock of the situation on Saturday amid speculation of stringent measures likely to be declared on Sunday.

The state recorded its highest 49,447 new cases, up from the previous high of 47,827 new cases registered on Friday. With this, the total increased from 29,04,076 on Friday to 29,53,523 on Saturday.

Maharashtra also added 277 fatalities on Saturday, compared with 481 reported on Friday (comprising the April 2 toll of 202 plus 279 old deaths), taking the toll from 55,379 to 55,656, again the worst in India.

Mumbai, Pune, Nashik and Nagpur circles remained major concern areas due to the rising number of new cases and deaths, followed by Latur, Akola, Aurangabad and Kolhapur circles.

Over 2.20 million people are in quarantine, either at home or in institutions, as the state grapples to control the infection. The state recovery rate continued to drop further, from 84.62 per cent on Friday to 84.49 per cent, while the death rate worsened from 1.91 per cent a day earlier to 1.88 per cent, and the number of active cases crossed the 4-lakh mark, jumping up from 389,832 to 401,172.

Meanwhile, the number of people sent to home isolation shot up from 21,01,999 to 21,57,135, while those shunted to institutional quarantine increased from 19,237 to 18,994 on Saturday.