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52.4% fewer Covid deaths in Mumbai in a month: BMC data
Doctors have attributed the fall in deaths to the growing awareness among people, leading to early diagnosis and treatment
The city registered a 52.4% drop in Covid-19 deaths in a month, from 888 between October 19 and November 17 to 423 between November 18 and December 16, according to data from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). This was despite Mumbai seeing only a marginal drop (0.1%) in cases, 154,900 to 144,852, in the same period, HT’s data showed.
Doctors have attributed the fall in deaths to the growing awareness among people, leading to early diagnosis and treatment. “Earlier, due to lack of awareness, symptomatic patients would often take flu-related medicines over the counter, which delayed their treatment, dimming their chances of survival. Most of the major hospitals would get severely ill Covid-19 patients. Now, since the past two months, the situation has improved,” said Suresh Kakani, additional commissioner, BMC. “People are consulting doctors earlier, which has helped to provide them treatment on time, without delays,” he added.
As known, those above 60 years are considered as the most vulnerable due to their underlying comorbid health issues. Data showed that the deaths in this group have decreased by almost 51% in the same period. Between October 19 and November 17, 651 people in the group succumbed to the infection. However, the number plunged to 317 between November 18 and December 16.
Doctors believe that due to the restrictions on movement of senior citizens outside, the overall infection rate among them has decreased. “We have seen that elderly people are more responsible than younger in maintaining all precautionary measures. They regularly wear masks and avoid going out, especially those who have comorbidities,” said Dr Om Srivastava, an epidemiologist who is part of the state’s Covid-19 task force.
In the city, till December 16, 11,003 of the 284,404 patients who were diagnosed with Covid-19 have succumbed to the infection.
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