Cases lowest in five days but toll in Maharashtra goes past 18,000

MUMBAI: A day after reporting the highest Covid-19 deaths and over 12,000 daily cases, Maharashtra reported a dip in cases and deaths on Monday. The state reported 9,181 new cases and 293 deaths, taking the total cases to 5,24,513, and the cumulative fatalities stood at 18,050, crossing the 18,000 mark. The cases reported on Monday were the lowest in the last 5 days.

Officials said cases on Monday are generally lower as the number of tests on Sunday are also fewer. The city continued with its "stable" addition on Monday, reporting 925 cases and 46 deaths and taking its total cases to 1,24,307 and deaths to 6,845. The active cases in the city continued to be under the 20,000 mark, dipping further to 19,172 cases.

AMC Suresh Kakani said they have begun intensive review of deaths, including in private hospitals and nursing homes, to look at the reasons behind deaths. "Deaths have come down at public hospitals, so now we are trying to look at reasons why they continue to be high in the private sector," he said. KEM dean Dr Hemant Deshmukh said on most days they are seeing 2-5 deaths. "Ourdeath rate has dropped to 1%," he said. In terms of testing, Kakani claimed the city was using 60% RT-PCR , the more accurate test, and 40% rapid antigen tests.

Pune division reported the most cases, while MMR reported the highest deaths. Pune division reported 2,207 cases and 54 deaths, while MMR reported 1,598 cases and 69 deaths.

CM Uddhav Thackeray inaugurated a dedicated Covid centre in Buldhana and said assistance of the special task force created by the state should be sought by districts to reduce deaths. "Patients do not get cured just because we create state-of-the-art facilities, but trained human resources including doctors, nurses and other necessary para-medical staff are also required for it. Government has created a task force at every district so that necessary medicines as well as availability of oxygen and life-saving drugs are taken care of," Thackeray said.

There were 274 cases from Navi Mumbai, taking the tally there to 18,755. Of these, 14,814 patients have recovered. NMMC officials said 2 deaths were reported, taking the toll to 471. Panvel city reported 169 positives and 3 deaths. There were 154 new cases in Thane city , taking the tally to 21,326, while five new deaths were reported, taking the toll to 681.

The state reported a dip in daily discharges, reporting 6,711 and taking total recoveries to 3.58 lakh, with the recovery rate of the state now 68.3%.