Covid second wave: 3.8mn new cases, 61K deaths in 4 months in Maharashtra

The first Covid wave that lasted 11 months (Mar 9, 2020 to Feb 9, 2021) led to 2,048,802 new cases, 51,360 deaths in Maharashtra

The second wave that started in Maharashtra on February 10 has so far led to 3,868,319 new Covid-19 cases and 61,336 deaths within four months, compared to the first wave from March 9, 2020 to February 9, 2021, which saw 2,048,802 cases, along with 51,360 deaths in approximately 11 months.

HT Image

Maharashtra recorded 8,129 new cases on Monday, along with 200 deaths.

Avinash Supe, chairman, state deaths audit committee, said various factors led to high death rates in the past four months. “There were more Covid-19 cases in the second wave compared to the first wave, which was directly proportional to the death rate. In addition, we saw more deaths as the virus spread to rural areas, which had poor hospital infrastructure. Other reasons include shortage of oxygen as well as late reporting of the symptoms, which led to delayed treatment, contributing to higher death rate,” he added.

Dr Jeevan Jain, general physician from Lalbaug, who is credited with treating more than 15,000 Covid-19 patients, said, “The first wave was mild compared to the second one as we saw very few patients admitted to the hospital and a majority got well through home quarantine,” said Dr Jain. “The virulence and potency of the Covid-19 mutant in the second wave was more lethal than the first one. We saw people suffering from high fever for seven to 10 days. In contrast, in the first wave, people got well within five days. Another reason for higher mortality rates was labs could not cope with the sheer number of patients and the results used to be delayed, directly delaying the treatment,” he added.

Another factor which pushed up the deaths was that since May 1, Maharashtra has added almost 17,388 deaths from Covid-19 under the category of reconciliation deaths. “These are due to delayed reporting especially from the rural parts of the state which fail to upload the data in time on the centralised portal,” said Dr Supe.

Mumbai on Monday recorded 530 new Covid-19 cases with 19 deaths, taking the total toll to 15,202. There are currently 18,205 active cases in Mumbai and the number of citizens who have contracted the virus till date stood at 716,190. There were 168,902 tests conducted on Monday, while the patients who recovered stood at 14,732. The death toll has now reached 112,696, with Pune leading with 15,464 deaths, followed closely by Mumbai with 15,202 deaths. The number of active cases recorded was 147,354, with Pune again leading with 19,047, followed by Mumbai with 18,205.