Coronavirus: In a first, Mumbai records just six deaths in 48 hours

BMC doctors checking Dharavi residents on Wednesday. Pic/Suresh Karkera

For the first time over the past couple of months, according to state health officials, Mumbai has recorded as few as six COVID-19-related deaths in the last 48 hours along with 69 other deaths that occurred in the past. Fresh cases, however, rose by nearly 1,500.

A total of 5,537 cases came in from across the state, taking its tally to over 1.8 lakh. State health officials added 198 deaths to Maharashtra's toll, of which 69 occurred in the last 48 hours while the remaining 129 took place earlier.

Among the recent deaths, six were reported in Mumbai while 27 deaths took place in Pune, eight in Jalgaon, five in Thane, four in Bhiwandi, three each in Mira-Bhayandar, Solapur and Jalna, two in Osmanabad and one each in Kalyan-Dombivli, Vasai-Virar, Dhule, Pimpri- Chinchwad, Sindhudurg, Latur, Nanded and Akola.

The state's death rate stands at 4.47 per cent and its death toll crossed 8,000 on Wednesday. Civic officials said that of the total 75 deaths added to the city's tally, 52 of them were suffering from other ailments and 38 of them were senior citizens.

Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner said that June had seen a drop in the number of deaths among COVID-19 patients and the situation was improving.

"The number of critical patients has reduced and the number of days patients spend in hospitals has also gone down. There are fewer deaths since there more ICU beds and ventilators are now available in hospitals. While things are improving, the virus is erratic in nature and we are staying alert," he said. When asked about the issues raised around the COVID-related data, Kakani said they were in the process of clearing the backlog of cases and sorting the data of deaths in a date-wise manner, which would help them understand the pattern of deaths in the last three months.

According to the civic body, as on Wednesday, 168 out of 1,431 ICU beds in the city were available while 25 per cent of the 7,724 oxygen beds were vacant and 53 ventilators were also available.

An official from the state health department, however, said that the low death count might not be a reflection of the ground reality.

"The daily figures are recorded based on the data of the last 48 hours. Deaths that have happened on Wednesday might reflect in the 48-hour count the next day leading to a higher number of deaths," he said.

In the state, 79,075 COVID-19 patients are being treated and 2,243 patients have been discharged after full recovery. The recovery rate of the state currently stands at 51.67 per cent while civic officials say that Mumbai's recovery rate is 57 per cent and the overall growth rate is 1.68 per cent.

In Mumbai, T ward (Mulund) continues to have the highest growth rate at 3.9 per cent followed by R Central ward (Borivli) with 3.2 per cent. The G North ward continues to have the second highest number of cases after K East ward and has a growth rate of 1.2 per cent, below the city's average rate. On Wednesday, Dharavi recorded 14 new cases, Dadar 21 and Mahim 19.

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