Maharashtra on Tuesday recorded 7,717 new Covid-19 cases pushing the state’s tally to 391,440. The state could cross another grim landmark of 4 lakh cases on Wednesday, based on the current trend of the daily caseload increase. Mumbai reported its lowest tally in three months, with 700 new cases on Tuesday, which took the city’s tally to 110,882. For the second day in a row, the number of discharged/recovered patients in Maharashtra is more than the new cases reported.
The state’s active case tally stood at 144,694, with 10,333 patients being discharged on Tuesday. So far, 232,277 people have recovered in the state. The active case count in Mumbai now stands at 19,990.
Maharashtra also recorded 282 fatalities taking the toll to 14,165. Mumbai recorded 55 new fatalities, which pushed the toll to 6,187. Maharashtra, which has the highest number of confirmed Covid-19 cases and fatalities in the country, could become the state with the highest CFR, as the gap between CFR of Gujarat and Maharashtra – the top two states – is narrowing. As per the data of state Medical Education and Drugs Department (MEDD) released on Tuesday, CFR of the state is 3.62%, while Gujarat’s CFR is 4.13%. On June 28, Gujarat’s CFR was 5.83%, while Maharashtra’s was 4.57%. On May 28, CFR in Maharashtra was 3.33%, while it was 6.17% in its bordering state. Till July 27, Gujarat has reported 2,348 fatalities and 56,874 cases.
State health minister Rajesh Tope dismissed the comparison and said the Maharashtra government has been transparent in its data and dealing. “Gujarat must not be testing aggressively and therefore the numbers are low there. The Maharashtra government has always been transparent in its data. We have equipped districts with infrastructure, including ventilators, anti-viral drugs, and guidance from the task force, to bring down the fatality rate,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}State health minister Rajesh Tope dismissed the comparison and said the Maharashtra government has been transparent in its data and dealing. “Gujarat must not be testing aggressively and therefore the numbers are low there. The Maharashtra government has always been transparent in its data. We have equipped districts with infrastructure, including ventilators, anti-viral drugs, and guidance from the task force, to bring down the fatality rate,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}The silver lining, according to state officials, is the CFR in Maharashtra is dropping. A health department official said the two states should not be compared as the protocol and processes followed in the two states would be different.
The official, requesting anonymity, said, “There is a task force in each district and a uniform treatment protocol has been prepared. There are a few districts and semi-rural areas which have a higher death rate. For instance, Solapur city has a CFR of nearly 8%. It has reduced than a few days ago. Timely detection and hospitalisation is the key, which has been drilled into districts and city administration. Besides, coordination between the state task force and the district task force has been increased.”
Tope said they are looking at measures to reduce fatalities. “The task at hand is to reduce CFR in the state. The chief minister also earlier has given his directions on the matter. We have given funds to the district administration to procure the anti-viral drugs, remdesivir and tocilizumab, based on their requirement. The companies will provide adequate stock and delivery,” Tope said.
An official from the MEDD said, “On an average, a patient is hospitalised after five to six days of developing symptoms. This ratio needs to come down so that doctors get enough time to treat the patient.” As per latest MEDD data, 70% of the deaths that occurred are of people with co-morbidities, while the remaining 30% of victims did not have any co-morbidities.
Meanwhile, the contribution of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, excluding Mumbai, to the daily caseload in the state reduced to 19.73% on Tuesday. MMR contributed to 40% of the total cases in June and during the first week of July.
The lockdown in most of the municipal corporation areas in the MMR is showing results, officials said. The stabilising of figures from MMR would have a bearing on the restrictions for Mumbai as a lot of floating population comes from the adjoining areas of Mumbai.
Thane city recorded 191 new cases, while Thane district that comprises of rural areas recorded 147 new cases on Tuesday. Kalyan-Dombvli saw 219 new cases, while Navi Mumbai recorded 335 new cases.
Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad recorded 1,182 and 673 cases, respectively. Pune city recorded 23 fatalities taking the city’s tally to 1,318. Aurangabad city recorded 576 new Covid-19 taking the city’s tally to 9,635. Jalgaon district recorded 312 new infections, while Pune district recorded 340 new infections.
In the past 24 hours, Maharashtra conducted 43,160 tests and recorded 7,717 cases. The overall positivity rate in Maharashtra stood at 19.88%, with 19,68,559 samples so far. Currently, 885,545 people are in home quarantine and 42,733 people are in institutional quarantine.