CFR still a concern in Maharashtra despite steady drop in Covid cases

In October, Maharashtra recorded 60,222 Covid-19 cases and 1,149 deaths, registering an average CFR of 1.9%. Back in September, a total of 85,980 cases were confirmed with 1,754 deaths, taking the CFR to 2.04%

The Case Fatality Rate (CFR) for Covid-19 continues to be a matter of concern for health authorities in Maharashtra even though the state has seen a steady drop in daily cases over the last two months, officials said.

A temperature-checking machine is tested in Thane. Covid-19 CFR is still a concern in Maharashtra despite a steady drop in cases. (HT photo)

In the last four days, 129 Covid-19 deaths were recorded alongside 4,221 new cases.

In October, Maharashtra recorded 60,222 Covid-19 cases and 1,149 deaths, registering an average CFR of 1.9%. Back in September, a total of 85,980 cases were confirmed with 1,754 deaths, taking the CFR to 2.04%.

Experts say a CFR of less than 1.5% indicates that the Covid-19 pandemic is under control.

The CFR measures the severity of a disease by calculating the number of deaths as a proportion of the number of cases at any given point of time.

Experts say the CFR turns out to be high when there are relatively more deaths of senior citizens or those with comorbidities.

Maharashtra has been reporting 30-40 daily Covid-19 deaths over the last few weeks.

Dr Om Srivastava, infectious disease expert who is a member of the state-appointed Covid-19 task force, said, “We are seeing an overall decline in the CFR. [But] ideally, we should be having a CFR of less than 1.5 %.”

State surveillance officer Dr Pradeep Awate said authorities want to bring the Covid-related death rate to zero. “We get around 1,000 new Covid-19 cases daily and the deaths we are seeing is mostly of senior citizens or those with comorbidities getting infected with the Covid-19 virus,” he said.

Nagpur witnessed zero positive cases on Thursday, but authorities are calling for caution due to crowded marketplaces and Diwali gatherings during the festive season.

It marked the second time Nagpur reported zero daily cases and deaths from Covid-19 after September 29.

Doctors and experts said gatherings related to festivities, which were at their peak since Tuesday, could be crucial in the fight against the disease.

After last year’s muted Diwali celebrations, the enthusiasm seen among the people this year could prove to be dangerous, warned Dr Uday Bodhankar said.

Nagpur was one of the worst-hit districts in the state in terms of CFR. Its cumulative CFR - with 140,345 deaths and 6,615,299 cases - was 2.12 %.

Maharashtra on Friday recorded 1,141 cases and 32 deaths.

The city of Mumbai reported 252 new cases and six deaths, taking its total tally to 6,615,299 infections and 16,265 fatalities.

The state carried out 100,229 tests as reported on Friday, while the number of recoveries stood at 1,163. The total number of active cases in Maharashtra was 15,062. Of them, the highest was in Mumbai (4,160), followed by Pune (3,190) and Ahmednagar (2,015).