Mumbai: The first case of coronavirus was reported in Mumbai on March 10. Exactly a month later, the number of cases has gone up a thousand-fold. According to the state health department, 132 new cases were reported in the city on Friday, taking its tally of cases to 1,008.
As per the data released by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), however, there were as many as 218 new cases and 10 deaths recorded in Mumbai on Friday, bringing the total number of cases to 993 and the death toll to 64, as on April 10.
The numbers recorded on Friday mark the highest number of cases and deaths reported in the city so far. “Sixty per cent of 218 cases were asymptomatic and detected through containment measures and contact-tracing.
However, in nine of the 10 deaths, there were co-morbidities and age-related factors,” said a health official. “As many as 85 per cent of those who died in the state due to CO¬VID¬19 had diabetes or hypertension or both, making their recovery difficult,” he added.
In the state, for the second consecutive day on Friday, 210 new cases and 13 deaths were reported, taking the total count to 1,574 and 110 deaths so far. Of the 210 cases in the state, 132 were in Mumbai, followed by 38 in Pune, 17 in Mira Bhayandar, six from Nagpur, three each in Akola and Pimpri-Chinchwad, two each in Thane, Kalyan-Dombivli and Buldana and one each, in Vasai-Virar, Navi Mumbai, Ratnagiri and Nashik.
Of the 13 deaths were reported in the state, 10 were in Mumbai and one each in Vasai-Virar, Panvel and Pune. Talking about the discrepancy in the data provided by the state and the BMC, health officials clarified, “The BMC provides data gathered in the preceding 24 hours and if cases are reported afterwards, it is updated in state data. This causes the difference in numbers."
Mumbai endocrinologist and diabetologist Dr Shashank Joshi said the human body has humoral-mediated immunity, which helps in the formation of antibodies, and cellular-mediated immunity, which is the body’s own defence mechanism. In patients with diabetes, these immune systems are weak. “When a virus like the SARS¬-CoV¬2 infects them, it causes a cytokine storm (an over production of immune cells and their activating compounds, known as cytokines).
This often leads to tremendous leaks in the lungs, which is why the patients require ventilators,” he said. Of the 33,093 laboratory samples, 30,477 tested negative and 1,574 tested positives for coronavirus until Sunday, while 38,927 people are in home quarantine and 4,738 people are in institutional quarantine.
