Mumbai: Active Covid-19 cases up by 142% since March 1, 53% beds vacant

The city’s Covid fatality rate remains below 1%. On March 1, Mumbai had 9,690 active cases of Covid-19, which surged to 23,448 on March 21.

According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the number of active cases of Covid-19 in the city has increased by 142% since March 1. However, 53% of hospital beds reserved for Covid remain vacant as 70% of the current Covid cases are asymptomatic. The city’s Covid fatality rate remains below 1%.

A healthcare worker collects swam samples of passengers for RT-PCR test, at Turbhe railway station in Navi Mumbai on Monday. (Bachchan Kumar/ HT PHOTO)

On March 1, Mumbai had 9,690 active cases of Covid-19, which surged to 23,448 on March 21. The number of Covid patients in hospitals has also seen a sharp rise. For instance, the civic-run Rajawadi Hospital admitted around 10 Covid patients daily in January and now is admitting 30 patients daily. At the jumbo Covid centre in Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) on January 31, there were 120 patients receiving treatment. As of the afternoon of March 23, the centre had 920 patients. “Last week alone, we admitted 520 Covid-19 patients. The footfall of patients has increased considerably compared to January. But thankfully, most of the newly-infected patients are mildly symptomatic,” said Dr Rajesh Dere, in-charge of BKC jumbo centre.

BMC’s data shows that 70% of the current Covid cases are asymptomatic. Dr Samrat Shah, consultant internist at Bhatia Hospital said, “We are observing that the virus in the second wave is easily transmissible but less virulent hence infectivity rate is high but hospital admissions and fatalities are far less in comparison to the beginning of 2020.”

Doctors say the high number of asymptomatic cases has helped prevent hospital bed shortages. At the start of the pandemic in March last year, when the number of active cases started rising, citizens reported a shortage of hospital beds for Covid patients.

According to BMC, 12,694 beds in hospitals are reserved for Covid-19 patients and 5,916 of these are vacant at present. In government-run hospitals, 10,198 beds are reserved for Covid cases and 5,005 of these are vacant. There are 2,496 reserved beds in private hospitals of which 1,585 are occupied.

Of 1,539 beds in intensive care units for Covid patients, 61.8% (952) are occupied. Out of 8,461 oxygen beds, 48.3% (4,087) are being used. Almost 68% of the 966 ventilator beds (for severe cases of Covid) are vacant and 657 are occupied. In BMC-run Covid care centres-1 (CCC-1), for close contacts of Covid patients, there are 12,353 beds of which 554 are occupied.

Mumbai’s doubling rate fell from 174 on March 1 to 106 on March 20. With BMC conducting more than 24,000 tests daily, officials say the daily positivity rate is around 17% and likely to rise further. “The only way to stop the second wave is through testing and vaccination. We have been given a target to do 45,000 rapid antigen tests in malls and other crowded places. This will increase the daily overall testing to almost 65,000. With this, we will identify more Covid-19 patients. But gradually, with early isolation and treatment, the chain of infection would stop,” said Suresh Kakani, additional commissioner, BMC.

At present, the daily fatality rate remains below 1%. “It has been seen that the fatality rate in second waves is low, like in Europe. The infection is more transmissible but milder. However, it is too early to comment anything with certainty,” said Dr Avinash Supe, in-charge of the Covid-19 death committee.