Mumbai sees first Covid-19 death of 2024

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Mumbai on Saturday recorded its first COVID-19 death since the cases started rising in mid-December. Officials said that the deceased was a 52-year-old man residing in the M-West ward's jurisdiction and suffered from chronic alcoholism. He admitted himself to a public hospital on January 4 and tested positive for COVID-19 the next day. However, according to BMC health officials, he experienced symptoms like fever, cough, and breathlessness for five days prior to that. State health officials also said that the deceased was unvaccinated.

According to officials, the cause of death has been confirmed to a lower respiratory tract infection, which had progressed to sepsis, leading to septic shock. "Chronic alcoholics are considered to be immunocompromised, which puts them at a higher risk of complications and fatality. The deceased had developed pneumonia after contracting the virus," said Dr Daksha Shah, executive health officer, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.

Meanwhile, another COVID death was also recorded in Maharashtra on Saturday; taking the total death toll since mid-December to seven. All the seven had pre-existing comorbidities. So far, 139 patients in the state have been detected with the JN.1 variant. While most infected with the variant have only shown mild symptoms, it is being considered to be highly transmissible and poses a risk for those with severe comorbidities. At the moment, the state has a total of 911 active cases. Of that, 37 individuals sought hospital care, and 12 are in Intensive Care Units.