Maharashtra records 853 deaths, 62,194 new Covid-19 cases

With 853 deaths on Thursday, Maharashtra recorded a total of 4,702 deaths in the first six days of April, bringing the average number of deaths to 783 per day

With 853 deaths on Thursday, Maharashtra recorded a total of 4,702 deaths in the first six days of April, bringing the average number of deaths to 783 per day. The number is almost three times higher as compared to last month’s 1,402 deaths from April 1 to 6, which averaged 233 deaths per day. From March 1 to 6, 286 deaths were recorded, which averaged 47 deaths per day.

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The total number of deaths in the state since the outbreak of the virus has now touched 73,515. On Wednesday, the state recorded 920 deaths which was the second-highest one day toll in the state. The highest toll was 985 on April 28 last month.

On Thursday, the state recorded 62,194 new Covid-19 cases, as 2,77,086 citizens were tested for the virus.

There are currently 6,39,075 active patients across the state of which Pune tops with 1,15,182 patients followed by Nagpur with 61,178 active patients. The death toll has now reached 73,515 with Mumbai leading with 13,580 deaths followed by Pune with 9,942 patients.

According to Dr Tatrarao Lahane, director, Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER), the deaths have increased corresponding with the surge of the virus. “We saw increasing deaths due to the second wave which was more lethal than the first one. The current deaths are of those who have been affected mostly two weeks ago. Due to the lockdown, we will see the deaths stabilising and even coming down in the coming days,” said Lahane.

Dr Satyendra Nath Mehra, director, Masina Hospital at Byculla, attributes the increase in the death rates to two main factors. “The younger generation is suffering from ‘Happy Hypoxia’ a condition where the patient does not realise that his oxygen level is low and is happily continuing his normal activities. This results in the progression of the disease and are causing deaths,” said Mehra.

“The second is that whole families are getting infected and the worst sufferers are the elderly family members who are already suffering from other diseases. Their condition is deteriorating faster due to this new strain,” he added.

As the Covid-19 virus continues to rage in many places, the state government has now decided to enforce an eight-day strict lockdown at Badlapur city in Thane district from Saturday onwards. Badlapur now follows six districts like Ahmednagar, Baramati, Sangli, Satara, Kolhapur and Beed where a strict lockdown is already in place due to the surge in Covid-19 cases.

Meanwhile, a company, Genetek Lifesciences located at Wardha has started its operations of producing Remdesivir injections. Union minister Nitin Gadkari was able to procure licenses for this company within three days as it will be producing 30,000 vials of the injections daily.