Mumbai: After five days of highs, deaths amid the COVID-19 dropped below the 50-mark while new cases remained under the 5,000-mark even as recoveries improved on Sunday.

The state witnessed 40 deaths, taking the toll to 47,734, while the new cases dropped below the 5,000 mark for the second day with 4,757 fresh cases, taking the total to 18,52,266.

While 19 of the state's 36 districts reported fatalities and all reported new infections, the bulk of fatalities came from the Mumbai-Pune regions.

On the positive part, the state's recovery rate improved, increasing from 92.88 per cent to 93.04 per cent -while the mortality rate now standing at 2.58 per cent.

Another mass of 7,486 fully recovered patients returned home taking the total number discharged to 17,23,370, against the 80,079 active cases, which dipped for the fourth day. Of the latest deaths declared, Mumbai led with 13 fatalities, while five died in Nagpur, four in Satara, three in Pune.

Mumbai circle (MMR) reported 15 new deaths but the total decreased from 18,652 to 18,607 and with another surge of 1,488 new cases, the toll shot up to 640,005. Pune division recorded nine deaths, while the daily infections gone up by 918. Meanwhile, the number of people sent to home quarantine gone down to 556,085, while the number of those in institutional quarantine increased to 5,903 on Sunday.