Inside a Covid-19 critical ward at Kasturba Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Mumbai. (Photo by Amit Chakravarty)

THE DEATH rate due to Covid-19 in Maharashtra dropped to less than 4 per cent for the first time in the last two months. On Wednesday, the state’s fatality rate stood at 3.96 per cent even as it recorded 223 deaths due to the infection, taking the toll to 10,928. A week ago, the death rate was 4.22 per cent, and a week before it was 4.47 per cent.

Mumbai’s death rate at 5.6 per cent, however, is higher than the state average. Pune too came close to Mumbai with 1,345 fresh cases on Wednesday, taking its count to 32,096.

The state also recorded 7,975 fresh cases on the day, taking the total number to over 2.75 lakh cases. Maharashtra is expected cross the three-lakh mark by the weekend.

There are 1.11 lakh active cases to date. Mumbai recorded 1,374 new cases, taking its total count to 96,474. With 62 deaths, the toll in Mumbai climbed to 5,467.

State officials said a slew of measures, from forming a task force to handling critical patients to increased capacity of oxygen beds, have helped control the death rate.

Of the 233 deaths reported on Wednesday, half were from four regions – 62 from Mumbai, 31 from Pune, 15 from Kalyan-Dombivli, and 11 from Pimpri-Chinchwad.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region accounted for 111 deaths on Wednesday.

Navi Mumbai, Thane, Kalyan-Dombivli, Mumbai, and Pune are the only corporations with more than 10,000 Covid-19 cases.

Mumbai has 96,474 cases, with 32,096 in Pune, 16,071 in Kalyan-Dombivli, 15,821 in Thane, and 11,719 in Navi Mumbai.