Maha coronavirus case tally goes up to 6,817; death toll 301

After 32 days of the lockdown imposed to arrest the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), Maharashtra’s case count reached 6,817 with the addition of 394

After 32 days of the lockdown imposed to arrest the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), Maharashtra’s case count reached 6,817 with the addition of 394 infections on Friday. The state’s toll went up to 301 with 18 deaths registered on Friday

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The lockdown was imposed in the state on the midnight of March 23 and was lifted partially after 27 days on Monday (April 20). The relaxation was revoked the next day, owing to multiple violations of norms.

Friday was also the 21st consecutive day the state saw a three-digit spike in fresh cases. This is the reason most of the cases — 6,519 — were registered in April alone.Of the new cases, 5,279 are in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). In Mumbai, the tally went up to 4,447 as 242 new cases were registered.

After the first case on March 9, Maharashtra took 30 days to cross 1,000 cases on April 7, and crossed the 2,000 mark in six days on April 13. From 2,000 to 4,000 cases, it took six days.

But from 4,000 to 6,000 cases, it took only four days.

Although the numbers are high, senior officials said the state is yet to reach community transmission stage — when the source of the infection is not known — as there is no exponential growth in Covid-19 cases.

“The two 14-day cycles of incubation period of infection are completed on April 20. It had begun from March 22, when international traffic was stopped. We will have to wait for another seven days to see the trend. If the rise continues and if the number of fresh cases are rising by more than 50% (over the previous day) on a daily basis, then it can be called as exponential growth and only then we can say that the stage of community transmission has arrived,” said Dr TP Lahane, director, Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER).

He clarified that exponential growth is also of two types: one is 50% rise in daily cases and another is doubling of cases —100% rise in daily cases.

“If exponential growth continues, then the state government will also have to extend the lockdown period for another three weeks till May 24 to break the incubation cycle,” Dr Lahane said.

. Of them, 11 are in Mumbai, five in Pune and two in Malegaon. The total number of casualties in Mumbai increased to 178.

Of the 18 deaths, 12 patients had co-morbidity conditions, said health officials.

The mortality rate of the state has significantly dropped to 4.40% (283 cases till Thursday) from 7.41% (148 cases) since last Monday (April 13). However, it continued to be higher than the national mortality rate of 3.11% till Thursday, stated the data of the state medical education department.

As the cases are rising, the pandemic is also spreading to more areas of the state. One more district — Nanded — was hit by the virus after one case was found on April 22. With this, only three districts — Wardha, Bhandara, Gadchiroli — are reported to have no cases.

The state health department has conducted 1,02,189 tests at various public and private facilities. Of them, 94,485 people tested negative. State currently has 512 active containment zones. Around 7,702 survey teams, comprising doctors and assisting staff, have screened more than 28.88 lakh people. Around 957 patients have been discharged from hospitals after their recovery from infection.

It has also kept 8,814 suspected patients at government quarantine facilities, while 1,19,161 are home quarantined, stated health officials.

The Maharashtra government is also ready to start clinical trials of plasma therapy in the coming days as Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has given the much awaited permission. In the beginning, it will be started at Sassoon Hospital in Pune as permissions for other three hospitals in Mumbai, Nagpur and Solapur are still awaited. The state has also got permission for pool testing for Covid-19.

State health minister Rajesh Tope on Friday said that Maharashtra has got the nod from the Centre to start pool testing and convalescent plasma therapy. Tope announced it after a meeting with Union health minister Harsh Vardhan. The state would now commence pooled tests, where up to five samples are used in a single test. So far, one sample is being tested at a time.

Once clinical trials are successful, the state can start plasma therapy as treatment for Covid-19 patients.

“We have received permission from the Centre for conducting clinical trials of plasma therapy in the state. Once cleared by the ethics committee of the state, it is going to be started in the next 3-4 days at Sassoon Hospital, Pune. It will also be started at JJ Hospital in Mumbai, Indira Gandhi Medical College in Nagpur and Solapur Medical College in Solapur once permissions are in place,” said Dr Tatyarao Lahane, director, Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER).

The plasma therapy uses antibodies from the plasma of a recovered Covid-19 patient to treat those patients who are affected. The concept behind the therapy is that the plasma of a patient recovered from Covid-19 contains antibodies with the specific ability to fight the coronavirus. These antibodies will then target and fight the virus in the body of the infected person.

Maharashtra holds the top spot in the country with the number of coronavirus tests conducted. With pool testing, the state will get a boost in figures. State health department officials said that with the new form of testing, the state’s capacity would increase 10 times. The pool testing could help with the clusters or hotspots faster, officials added.

The testing method involves putting multiple swab samples together and testing them in a single real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test. If a batch tests positive, then everyone whose samples were a part of that batch would have to be tested separately. Conversely, if a batch tests negative, then all the samples are negative.

Tope said that the state has also suggested use of portable pulse oximeter and chest X-ray test to help diagnose coronavirus patients and to subsequently decrease the mortality rate. A statement from the state health department said that it was suggested that the PPE kits should be disinfected and used again; this suggestion was appreciated in the meeting by the Union health minister and health ministers of all the states. The minister also said that the Centre is positive about allowing new testing facilities at six medical colleges in Maharashtra.

So far, the state government has also done counselling of over 47,000 migrant workers that wants to go back to their native villages. This is being done with the help of psychiatrists and health staff, said the health minister. More than 6 lakh migrant workers are staying in over 944 shelter homes prepared by the state government.

(With inputs from Swapnil Rawal)