Maharashtra records 11,699 deaths, fatality rate of 1.58% in 15 days

Even though the daily Covid-19 cases have witnessed a steady drop over the past week, the state has logged 11,699 deaths in the first fortnight of May, recording a 1

Even though the daily Covid-19 cases have witnessed a steady drop over the past week, the state has logged 11,699 deaths in the first fortnight of May, recording a 1.58% case fatality rate (CFR) during the period.

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The state recorded 34,389 new Covid-19 cases and 974 deaths, second-highest single-day record, on Sunday. The case tally is now 5,378,452, while the death toll stands at 81,486.

Against a total of 7,38,618 people infected between May 1 and 15 and 11,699 deaths reported during the period the CFR stands at 1.58 %. An average of 799 deaths took place daily, while 32 deaths were reported per hour during this period.

The CFR in the first 15 days of April stood at 0.51%, as 4,225 deaths were reported against 826,799 infections reported in two weeks. The first fortnight of the last month saw average daily death of 281. The CFR is the number of deaths recorded during the period in proportion to the total cases in that period.

According to Dr Tatyarao Lahane, director, Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER), the CFR will reduce in the next few days as the fatality curve always lags by three-four weeks behind the infection cases curve. “Most of these deaths are of patients who were admitted before two to three weeks. We will see the decrease of deaths in the coming days,” said Dr Lahane.

Dr Ishwar Gilada, secretary-general, Organised Medicine Academic Guild, attributes the high CFR to the surge in rural pockets. “There are at least 12 districts in Maharashtra like Ahmednagar, Satara, Sangli and Beed where both new cases, as well as deaths, are increasing by the day. They tend to increase the CFR of the state. These districts suffer from two factors, a casual approach towards the virus and lack of medical facilities. Many people in rural parts do not wear masks, nor they practice social distancing. In addition, fewer tests are being conducted in these districts. The longer turnaround time for results of the tests lead to more infections and subsequently the high death rate,” said Gilada.

Mumbai continued to log fewer cases by reporting 1,535 cases and 60 deaths. Pune city has recorded 1,359 new cases, while Nashik city saw 1,022 new cases. Aurangabad and Kolhapur city recorded 214 and 217 cases respectively.

The total number of active patients in Maharashtra currently stands at 468,109. Pune tops with 82,397 active patients followed by Mumbai with 33,574 and Thane with 30,492 active patients. The total number of tests conducted in the last 24 hours were 264,587 with a positivity rate of 12.99%.

In Solapur, there was a large procession at the funeral of a social worker throwing all social distancing norms at the wind.