City's COVID-19 tally crosses 64,000; state recovers at 50.59 per cent

An auto driver has put up a plastic sheet between his and the passenger's seat. Pic/Nimesh Dave

With Mumbai reporting 1,264 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, the total tally crossed 64,000 on Friday. The total number of cases in the state touched 1.24 lakh with 3,827 fresh infections. While the state's recovery rate continued to be 50.59 per cent, the death rate rose to 4.7 per cent.

State health officials said that apart from the confirmed cases, 192 patients in Mumbai and 140 patients in Thane also tested positive and were yet to be added to the tally. Of the total number of COVID-19 cases in the state, 55,651 patients are currently being treated and 1,935 patients have been discharged from various facilities after full recovery. Of the 142 deaths reported in Maharashtra on Friday, city accounts for 114. Civic officials said that while 55 of them occurred between June 16 and 18, the rest happened before June 15. Eight other cases were from Aurangabad, five from Vasai-Virar, three each from Nashik, Dhule, Jalgaon and Raigad, two from Thane and one from Solapur. In the state, 74 patients who died were senior citizens and the death toll now stands at 5,751.

A report issued by the Public Health Department said that, as on June 18, 17 per cent of the total samples collected so far have tested positive and 38 per cent of the cases have been asymptomatic. Among the COVID-19 patients who died, 70 per cent were suffering from other ailments like hypertension, diabetes among others and in majority of the cases, the patients who tested positive were in the age group of 31-40 years, comprising nearly 20 per cent of the total cases.

Civic officials said that the average growth rate of the city dropped to 2.15 per cent. Barring R North ward (Dahisar), which has a growth rate of 4.9 per cent, all other wards have a growth rate of less than 3 per cent. In terms of the city's average doubling rate of 33 days, R North ward ranks the lowest with a doubling rate of 15 days. While majority of the wards have a growth rate between 1 and 2.5 per cent, four wards, including P North (Malad), S (Bhandup), T (Mulund) and R Central (Borivali) have a growth rate higher than 3 per cent.

While K East ward has 4,405 cases, G North has 4,284 cases. Dharavi reported 17 cases on Friday, Dadar 23 and Mahim 20. Apart from the facilities set up for asymptomatic and mild-to-moderate symptomatic patients, a 200-bed Corona Health Centre has been started at Maharashtra Nature Park in Dharavi.

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