Mumbai: With 186 Covid-19 fatalities, Maharashtra recorded its highest number of single-day deaths on Sunday, taking the toll to 6,170 so far. The previous high was 178 deaths, reported on June 15. Meanwhile, for the fourth consecutive day, more than 3,000 new cases were recorded in the last 24 hours, at 3,870. The overall case count in the state is at 1,32,075 cases so far.
State Surveillance Officer Dr Pradip Awate said, barring Mumbai, the data reconciliation of deaths in all districts/municipal corporations in the state has been done. "The numbers are finalised after checking death information obtained from districts, information available at the state level and that on the Covid-19 portal. Therefore, the difference in the number of deaths in Thane, Raigad and Palghar districts can be seen," he explained. “Of the 186 deaths, 110 were reported in Mumbai, of which 41 were reported in the last 48 hours. While the remaining 69 deaths are from the period April 18 to June 18. Therefore, these deaths have not been included in the daily numbers but instead, they have been included in the cumulative figures,” said Dr Awate.
According to the BMC public health department, the city reported 1,242 corona cases and 41 Covid-19 deaths on Sunday, bringing the total count to 66,507, with 3,669 deaths until now.
State authorities, however, are wary about the rapid spread of the virus in some parts of the state, mainly because of the weak health infrastructure. In Jalgaon and Solapur, where cases have been rising rapidly in the past few weeks, the tracing and testing rates are poor.
In Solapur, according to government officials, the local administration has failed to trace the vulnerable people among beedi and textile workers, whose immunity is low because of their work profiles. This has led to a high case fatality rate in the district.
“We could contain the spread well in Mumbai, but the curve has been disturbed because of cases in other parts of the state. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has asked district collectors and civic chiefs to pull up their socks and contain the spread. Districts and municipal corporations are being monitored at the state-level," an official said.
Dr Sanjay Oak, who heads a taskforce of doctors constituted by the government for the clinical management of critically ill patients, said they were going to focus on reducing the fatality rate. “We are not scared of positive cases, as they can be controlled. We have controlled them in Mumbai. Early identification, treatment and application of the appropriate drugs is the key to treatment. After introducing plasma therapy and using tocilizumab, now we are pushing for remdesivir and other drugs that have proved useful in treating Covid-19. We will focus completely on reducing the CFR in the state. The idea of field hospitals has paid off well, as we are ready with adequate beds and ready to take up more patients,” he said.
