There was a marginal rise in the daily Covid-19 cases across the city on Tuesday, with 575 new infections and 14 Covid fatalities being reported in the last 24 hours, taking the total count to 7,17,683, with 15,216 deaths so far. Meanwhile, the doubling rate has increased to 702 days, while the weekly growth rate has dropped to 0.09 per cent.
The state also witnessed a marginal rise in single Covid cases on Tuesday, with 9,350 new infections and 388 deaths being reported in the last 24 hours, pushing its tally to 59,24,773. So far, 1,14,154 fatalities have been reported. However, for the sixth consecutive day, the state has added 1,070 fatalities after reconciliation.
Dr Avinash Supe, chairman of, state deaths audit committee, said various factors led to high death rates in the past four months. “There were more Covid-19 cases in the second wave compared to the first wave, which was directly proportional to the death rate. In addition, we saw more deaths as the virus spread to rural areas, which had poor hospital infrastructure. Other reasons include shortage of oxygen as well as late reporting of the symptoms, which led to delayed treatment, contributing to the higher death rate,” he added.
State health officials said that the parameters, including weekly growth rate and positivity rate, will be considered while announcing relaxation in certain areas. The idea is to go slow with unlocking as many districts still have a high positivity rate.
“As unlocking will be gradual, we want more people to get at least the first Covid vaccine jab. Many options are being looked into. Travel of people will continue to be regulated and work-from-home will continue to be encouraged,” said a senior health official.
