Death toll doubles in last two weeks even as state, city mortality rate drops

Even as the mortality rate due to Covid-19 has declined in the city and state, the total number of deaths has more than doubled in the last two weeks.

Even as the mortality rate due to Covid-19 has declined in the city and state, the total number of deaths has more than doubled in the last two weeks.

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This is because of the substantial jump in the number of positive cases reported since mid-April, reveals data compiled by the state health department.

The death toll in the state touched 432 on April 29 from 178 deaths on April 15. In Mumbai, the death toll increased from 112 to 270 in the same period.

Nearly 29% or 79 deaths of the total 270 in the city were reported in just five days, from April 25 to 29. In the same period, the city saw 1,595 new cases.

Mumbai recorded the highest single-day death figure of 26 on Wednesday, followed by 25 on Tuesday. This is considerably more than the previous high of 16 casualties in a single day, recorded on April 12.

Overall, in Maharashtra, between April 15 and 29, the total positive cases went up from 2,690 to 9,915. The state health department and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) claimed mortality rate has decreased in the state as well as Mumbai.

In Maharashtra, mortality rate decreased from 6.61% to 4.36% from April 15 to 29. In Mumbai, mortality rate in the same period declined to 4% from 6.37%.

“The death toll is going up as the number of cases is increasing. So, even as mortality rate is coming down, the death count is increasing,” said Anup Kumar Yadav, commissioner, National Health Mission, Maharashtra.

The data compiled also shows that the death ratio among all age groups has doubled in the last two weeks and the death rate ratio has increased the most for the 31 to 40 age group, with the number increasing to 27 on April 29 from eight as of April 15.

However, death toll was highest in the age group of 51 to 60 and 61 to 70 years with deaths increasing to 108 from 52. For patients aged 61 to 70, deaths increased from 52 to 101.

Dharavi reports 25 new cases, 7 Nair hosp staff test positive

On Thursday, Dharavi reported 25 new Covid-19 cases, taking the total tally to 369, with 18 fatalities. Seven security staff from BYL Nair Hospital also tested positive. Dr Mohan Joshi, dean of Nair Hospital said infected security guards are asymptomatic and stable.

According to BMC, the number of containment zones in Mumbai increased to 1,459 on Thursday.BMC has also removed 331 containment zones from its list, as these areas completed the 14-day quarantine period.

Meanwhile, appreciating the efforts of community health volunteers (CHV), BMC has decided to increase the salary of 3,500 volunteers by ₹4,000 per month.