MUMBAI: A day after the state added over 9,000 Covid-19 cases, it reported daily detections just under the 9,000 mark, though there was a jump in fatalities. A total of 8,998 new cases and 60 fatalities were reported on Thursday, taking the tally to 21,88,183 and toll to 52,340. The state had reported 42 Covid-19 deaths on Wednesday.
In Mumbai, the daily case count dropped by 17 over the previous day with 1,104 patients registered on Thursday. The Covid-19 tally and toll in Mumbai now stand at 3.3 lakh cases and 11,492 deaths, respectively.
For the second day in a row, the Mumbai region reported over 2,000 cases. The MMR added 2,103 cases and 11 deaths, while the Pune region added 2,086 cases and eight deaths. The highest deaths yet again were reported from the Akola circle, 16. The circle’s daily caseload was 1,479.
Active Covid-19 cases continued to rise in both Mumbai and Maharashtra, even though the state registered a slight dip in daily caseload on Thursday. In Maharashtra, there were 85,144 active cases, including 9,041 cases in Mumbai. However, these numbers are a fraction of the worst Covid-19 peak in September 2020. For instance, on September 27, the city had 26,716 cases as against 2.7 lakh cases in Maharashtra. With 6,135 people discharged, the total discharges in the state reached nearly 20.5 lakh.
Dr P Prabhudesai, pulmonologist at Lilavati Hospital, Bandra, said the rise in cases are a reflection of opening up after almost a year-long lockdown. “Most patients these days hail from buildings. They stayed home during the lockdown and are only now venturing out, and getting infected,” he said.
Additional municipal commissioner Suresh Kakani said although there is a rise in daily cases compared to January, most Covid-19 beds in BM facilities are still vacant. While there are 8,025 oxygen-supported beds in the city, only 2,071 (roughly 25%) are occupied and almost 50% of the ICU beds are vacant. “Most of the people being diagnosed are high-risk contacts of patients, most of whom live in buildings. As they are asymptomatic, they prefer to isolate themselves at home as they have adequate space. Hence, the demand for hospital beds hasn’t risen sharply,” he said .
Cases surged to 244 in Kalyan-Dombivli, the highest since mid-February. The tally and toll there were 63,966 cases and 1,205 deaths.
There were 139 positive cases from within NMMC areas on Thursday, taking the total Covid-19 count to 55,957 so far. With one death reported on Thursday, the toll rose to 1,124. PCMC areas reported 97 new cases on Thursday, taking the case tally to 30,365. With two deaths reported, the toll reached at 648.