Thane district sees drop in Covid-19 cases post Diwali

The mortality rate within the district has come down to 2.52 per cent currently. A total of 5,423 deaths are recorded till date

Post-Diwali, Thane district has noted an improvement in Covid-19 cases with 94.72 per cent recovery rate. From among the 2.3 lakh cases within the district, 2.1 lakh have been discharged and the number of active cases has come down to 13,000 as well.

A volunteer checks temperature of persons entering Noor Masjid in Vashi, Navi Mumbai on Friday. (Bachchan Kumar/HT)

The mortality rate within the district has come down to 2.52 per cent currently. A total of 5,423 deaths are recorded till date.

In September first week, the recovery rate in the district was 86.60 per cent with more than 20,000 active cases. The active cases in mid-October were as high as 30,000.

The Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) has, so far, reported the maximum number of Covid-19 cases at 56,167, followed by 50,127 in Navi Mumbai and 49,362 in Thane city.

Out of the total deaths, Thane city has recorded 1,183, Navi Mumbai 1,034 and Kalyan-Dombivli 949. A slight decrease in the number of cases has been noticed across the district in the last week. Opening of labs in each corporation helped see a dip in positive cases, claimed the district authorities.

Rajesh Narvekar, collector, Thane District, said, “In the beginning of the pandemic, Thane district did not have a single testing lab. However, now every municipal corporation has testing laboratories that have ensured quick initiation of treatment. We are also in the process of building a testing unit in Padgha, which will cater to the rural areas within the district. We have identified places with infrastructure to accommodate more patients in case of a second wave.”

The Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) has a recovery rate of 95 per cent with mortality rate coming down to 2.31 per cent even as the number of testing done is between 5,000 to 6,000 on a daily basis.

Sandeep Malvi, deputy municipal commissioner, TMC, said, “Although the situation is under control, we request support from residents in following social distancing rules, sanitize regularly and wear masks. For more than a week, the daily average number of cases has been consistently below 150 cases.”

KDMC had the most number of cases within Mumbai Metropolitan Region. However they are presently at 96 per cent recovery rate. Dr Pratibha Panpatil, epidemic officer, KDMC, said, “We have handled the situation well and are ready to tackle more cases. Even if we get 900 daily cases, we have the provisions but residents have to take precautions, especially with educational institutions and public transport gradually opening up.”

The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation has hardly a few active cases. It reported less than 200 cases over the last few days. Similarly, Bhiwandi-Nizampur City Municipal Corporation had zero cases on Diwali despite the number of testing in these areas continuing to be the same.

Bhiwandi had managed to control the pandemic in the early stages itself. Since mid-September, two-thirds of the Covid beds in the city had been given for patients from rural areas and other municipal corporations. Door-to-door testing was also initiated from September in the city leading to a decrease in positive cases.

Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation is also at 93% recovery rate, “We have recently inaugurated our testing lab and will be adding 260 more beds within the city. We are well prepared if at all a second wave happens,” said Raja Dayanidhi, commissioner, Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation.

Within Thane rural, the Zilla Parishad had asked villages in July to hoist a green flag in the gram panchayat if they did not have a single case in 28 days. Currently, there are 209 villages within Thane rural areas that have hoisted green flags. Till now, there have been around 35,785 positive cases within the rural areas of the district.

“Less than 70 cases are being reported daily this week from across rural areas of the district now. We also took special efforts to remove fear in the minds of the locals, created awareness and testing were conducted regularly,” said an official from Thane Zilla Parishad.