Maha reports highest single-day toll of 43 deaths

Maharashtra recorded 1,216 new coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases on Thursday, second-highest increase in a day so far.

Maharashtra recorded 1,216 new coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases on Thursday, second-highest increase in a day so far.

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The death toll of the state also touched 694 as 43 fatalities, highest ever in a day, were registered on Thursday.

The state’s case count, which went up to 17,974, is most likely to cross the 18,000 mark on Friday, eight days after it crossed 10,000 cases on April 30.

The average of new cases daily has gone up to 1,000, raising concerns over the spread of the pandemic. In the second half of April, the average was 500.

In Mumbai, the worst-hit city across the country, the case count also reached 11,394 with 680 new cases, prompting the Centre as well as the state government to plan aggressive quarantine arrangements, especially for congested areas and slums like Dharavi, where containing the disease is proving to be a major challenge for authorities.

Of Thursday’s deaths, 24 were in Mumbai, seven in Pune, five in Vasai-Virar, two in Solapur, and one each in Palghar, Aurangabad and Akola. Also, one patient each from Manipur and Bihar died in Mumbai on Thursday. Of the deaths, 29 patients had comorbid conditions, said the health officials.

In the past seven days, the state has registered 7,476 cases, which indicates that it is getting almost 1,000 new cases on a daily basis.

However, the state government clarified that as many as 939 of the total cases are backlog figures, which were registered in the past few days and it will be streamlined once the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) application for daily data-entry of coronavirus cases is available on May 8.

State officials also indicated a further rise in cases and said that the curve will be flattened only after completion of the fourth incubation period on May 17 and decline in cases is likely to start only by this month end. It could mean the peak in number of cases is yet to come.

Dr Tatyarao Lahane, director, Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) said, “The graph will increase even further as several containment areas are densely populated so it is natural that it will affect a large number of people. The fresh cases are likely to increase a bit more in the coming days but by May 17 the curve will flatten because then we will be completing the fourth incubation period and by the end of this month, the number will start coming down.”

Between April 19 and 30, the state was getting around 500 new cases on a daily basis but from May 1, the figures started showing significant rise.

On May 1, the daily cases rose to 1,008, May 2 had 790 cases, May 3 had 678, May 4 had 771, May 5 had 841 and May 6 reported 1,233 cases. Besides, on May 4 & 5, the state also declared 796 and 143 cases additionally, saying that they were registered in the last few days and are being declared as per the Central government’s directive to bring the data at par with the national figures on the ICMR website.

“The number of fresh cases has increased, but it cannot be called as exponential growth as we are also declaring backlog figures. It means, the data entry at laboratories are getting delayed due to some technical reason and figures get accumulated. To deal with this, ICMR is now coming up with an application on which data entry will be made on a daily basis and backlog figures will be removed. Only then we will come to know whether there is exponential growth or not,” Dr Lahane said.

The first case in the state was found on March 9 and it took 30 days to the state to cross the 1,000 mark.

In Mumbai, the worst-hit city across country, the case count also reached 11,394 as 680 new cases were registered in a day. The death toll of Mumbai also reached 437.

The state health department said it is yet to add another 146 cases in Mumbai figures following ICMR website due to lack of reconciliation.

Considering the rapid rise in Mumbai, the state government has now directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to start aggressive institutional quarantine to contain the spread in the city by acquiring additional grounds and halls.

State health minister Rajesh Tope said that the department has directed the Mumbai civic body to start “aggressive” institutional quarantine to curb the spread of Covid-19 cases. Tope said that a Central team, which is in Mumbai to oversee the preparedness, has suggested that the civic body should ramp up its institutional quarantine facilities.

The minister added that social distancing measures cannot be followed in small houses in slums such as Dharavi, and therefore, close contacts of the people who test positive for coronavirus have to be kept in institutional quarantine.

Tope said that the department has asked Mumbai civic chief Praveen Pradeshi to increase such facilities by acquiring additional grounds and halls. “With the cases increasing we are looking at altering the preparedness plan. Around 2,000 additional beds with oxygen supply facility are being put up at [Mahalaxmi] Race Course, MMRDA Ground at BKC, Goregoan (NESCO exhibition centre). A Central team is in Mumbai, they have asked us to increase institutional quarantine facilities. We have emphatically told the municipal commissioner to increase it in any condition. Wherever halls and playgrounds can be acquired, they need to be done,” he said.

He added, “Unless people are taken out of a place like Dharavi, the spread cannot be contained. The people cannot be kept in a room of 10ft x 10ft. Now, we need to aggressively increase institutional quarantine.”

So far, 13,494 people have been kept in institutional quarantine in the state and over 2,12,742 people have been put under home quarantine.

He also appealed to people in the slums to come forward if they have any symptoms for early detection and to prevent the wider spread of the infection. He added that social distancing measures are also not followed in containment zones across the state and therefore cases are increasing from these zones in Mumbai, Pune, Malegaon, and Aurangabad.

On Thursday, the state has also completed 45 days of lockdown, which was imposed from the midnight of March 23, a day before the nationwide lockdown imposed by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It was partially lifted on April 20 in the areas where there are no cases or minimal in number.

The health department has conducted 2,02,105 tests at various public and private facilities across Maharashtra. Of them 1,83,880 people tested negative.

State currently has 1,087 active containment zones. Around 12,021 survey teams comprising doctors and assisting staff have screened more than 51.76 lakh people for suspected infection.

As the cases are rising, the number of cases recovered so far have also jumped to 3,301 as 207 patients recovered on Thursday.

The doubling rate in the state now stands at 10 days. The state government, according to the health minister, has now decided to take the rate to 20 days.

The mortality rate of the state has come down to 3.88% (651 deaths) on Wednesday from 7.41% (148 cases) on April 13. However, it is continued to be higher than the national mortality rate of 3.37% (1,781 deaths) till Wednesday, stated the data of the state medical education department.

Tope said that the social distancing in containment zones is crucial. “The cases are increasing in containment zones because social distancing is not followed. Cases are increasing in Mumbai, Pune, Aurangabad and Malegaon. People in these zones must work with the government and be alert,” he said.

Several mathematical models have given projections for Mumbai, but there is no need to panic, the minister said. “We are preparing for all eventualities. In a meeting with the Union health minister, we have sought Army hospitals and railway coaches. But that will be kept as a last resort. We can use the coaches for asymptomatic patients or quarantine facilities.”

The minister added that cluster-zone management needs to improve and stricter perimeter control needs to be put in place with the help of the police department to see that there is no to and fro movement.

“Our intention is that the green zone should remain without any cases. There should not be any cases for 21 days in the orange zone. We do not want any cases in containment zones. Cluster zone management with the help of police would be strengthened. In red zone and containment zones in Mumbai, we would have to be more strict. People could face difficulties, but at the end of the day, lives matter,” he said.