While active virus cases have reduced to the current 18,000 from 34,136 in September, the city struggles to bring down the number of fatalities
BMC doctors and health workers collect swab samples from cops at Police Colony in Ghatkopar East. File pic
The total number of active COVID-19 cases in Mumbai has declined from 34,136 in September to the current 18,000 but what remains a cause of concern for the city is the number of deaths it continues to report. While the months of August and September saw 1,305 and 1,279 deaths due to the disease respectively, which means an average of 42 deaths per day; the first 20 days of October saw 900 deaths, which is an average of 45 deaths per day. Also, the number of symptomatic and serious patients is still above 8,000. The number of new cases registered in October till now has already reached 38,000 and even the deaths continue to remain high compared to the last two months. In August and September the number of deaths had reduced compared to that in July.
While the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) claims that the doubling period of cases has increased and the number of active patients is half of that of September, the number of symptomatic and serious patients is still 8,597. As per official figures, currently there are 7,340 symptomatic and 1,257 critical patients undergoing treatment. On September 18, when the number of active patients had touched an all-time high of 34,136, there were 8,376 symptomatic and 1,233 critical patients.
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Speaking to mid-day, Dr Avinash Supe, chairman of the Death Audit Committee, said, "There were less than an average of 250 deaths per week in August in Mumbai. Now it has gone up to 330. Number of positive cases and deaths did increase in September. There is always a lag of two weeks after the numbers increase. So if cases remain constant for the next two weeks, the number of deaths will come down over the next 10 days."
Also Read: COVID-19: Mumbai sees decline in active cases, growth rate
Of the 941 deaths that occurred between September 30 and October 20, 67 were under the age group of 49 years, 162 were between 50 to 59 years of age and 712 were above 60 years.
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