First Thane man to undergo plasma transfusion dies

A 60-year-old doctor, who was the first to receive convalescent plasma transfusion in Thane, succumbed to Covid-19 on Monday. He is the sixth doctor to have died

A 60-year-old doctor, who was the first to receive convalescent plasma transfusion in Thane, succumbed to Covid-19 on Monday. He is the sixth doctor to have died of Covid-19 in the city. So far, more than 100 doctors have tested positive for Covid-19 and 15 are currently active cases in Thane.

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The doctor was from Thane and ran a hospital in Lokmanya Nagar, which is a Covid hot spot. He had tested positive for Covid-19 on July 9 and died of the infection on Monday. He is survived by his wife and two children who are Covid-free.

“He was very healthy and active. He ensured that his hospital was kept open throughout the pandemic. He was also keen on converting his hospital into a Covid hospital,” said Santosh Kadam, president, Indian Medical Association (IMA), Thane. Kadam said doctors are the worst hit by the pandemic. “We doctors are at the forefront in this war. We request the government to extend the Rs 50 lakh term cover to doctors from private hospitals as well,” he said.

Meanwhile, to ensure each quarantine centre has adequate medical staff, Thane municipal commissioner, Dr Vipin Sharma asked private doctors to chip in towards Covid duties.

According to Thane Municipal Corporation, which has been conducting rapid antigen testing since July 18, 179 positive cases have been found from 829 tests. “In the last three days, we have tested 829 people. It has revealed 179 positive, five invalid and the remaining 645 as negative,” said Sandeep Malvi, deputy municipal commissioner, TMC. Malvi further said testing centres have been set up in every ward and will be operational from today.

Thane city recorded 255 new cases of Covid-19 and four deaths on Monday. Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) continued to report the most cases in Thane district, with 427 new cases and nine deaths reported on Monday. Altogether, there are 16,364 cases of Covid-19 in Kalyan-Dombivli, of which 6,032 are active. Thane has the second-highest tally of Covid-positive cases – 16,028, of which 5,708 are active.

“We started doing rapid antigen testing from July 9 and expect to trace most patients at early stages and give them treatment,” said Pratibha Panpatil, epidemic officer, KDMC. So far, KDMC has conducted 2,024 antigen tests, of which 730 were positive and 1,294 were negative.

On the first day after relaxing the lockdown, Navi Mumbai recorded 286 new cases of Covid-19, bringing its tally to 11,712. Two deaths were reported and the death toll is now 345. Nerul recorded the highest number of positive cases (62) followed by Ghansoli (43) and Airoli (43). With more recoveries than new cases, the recovery rate is 63% and so far, 7,417 patients discharged altogether. The total number of active cases in Navi Mumbai is 3,950.

Ambernath Municipal Council (AMC) reported the fewest active cases (477), with 63 new Covid-positive cases and no deaths on Monday. Altogether, there are 3,171 cases of Covid-19 in Ambernath and the city has the highest discharge rate (81.23%) in the Mumbai metropolitan area. AMC’s Prashant Rasal has issued a notification saying lockdown will continue in containment zones till July 31.

Bhiwandi Nizampur City Municipal Corporation (BNCMC) recorded 68 new cases, taking its total to 3,166 with 512 active cases of Covid-19. The death toll is 177. Badlapur reported 60 new cases, taking its tally to 1,973. The city has recorded 31 deaths till date.

Panvel City Municipal Corporation (PCMC) on Monday reported 112 new cases and four deaths. There are now 4,990 cases of Covid-19 in the area, of which 1,463 are active. The death toll is 118.

PCMC said the lockdown would be extended till July 31 for containment zones. Deputy municipal commissioner, PCMC, Jamir Lengrekar said, “Containment zones will be updated on a daily basis, based on the number of cases in the area. We have released a list of nine cluster containment zones along with a detailed list of containment zones today which will be under lockdown from July 22.”

The rest of Panvel region will follow the guidelines of Mission Begin Again.