4,841 new Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra; Mumbai tally 70,000+, toll 4,000+ – Times of India

MUMBAI: A day after Delhi, Mumbai became the second city in the nation to cross 70,000 cases. With 1,350 cases reported on Thursday, the city’s cumulative tally touched 70,878. Mumbai also reached another grim milestone by crossing 4,000 Covid-19 deaths. It added 98 deaths on Thursday, 58 of them in the last 24 hours, taking its overall toll to 4,062.
Maharashtra recorded 4,841 cases on Thursday, its highest daily jump; the previous high was 3,890, recorded just a day before. Mumbai Metropolitan Region alone recorded a 20% jump in cases between Wednesday and Thursday. The state’s tally stood at 1,47,741 cases on Thursday. Deaths rose by 192, including 83 from previous days, taking the state’s toll to 6,931.

City leading in testing, but want to cut death rate: Min
Despite the significant jump in cases in the state, health minister Rajesh Tope said doubling rate of cases in the state has gone up to 30 days, which he claimed was an indicator of things being on the right track. He also said that Mumbai is leading in the number of tests. which is currently 23,424 tests per million. Compared to that, the state has carried out around 6,883 tests per million. He also said an analysis of some countries across the world shows that there have been 400-600 deaths per 10 lakh people, but in Maharashtra, 60 people per 10 lakh population have died due to Covid-19. “Even though the number is much less than in most other countries, every death is unfortunate. Our aim is to bring out the death rate,” Tope said.
Tope also said the state will be conducting ELISA-based anti-body tests in the containment zones to study the spread of infection in these areas. He added that the Maharashtra cabinet on Thursday passed a resolution which will be sent to the Centre seeking postponement of the final year PG medical exams as doctors have had no time to study and if they focus on the exams, they will start skipping hospital duty.
In Mumbai, civic authorities claimed out of 98 deaths, 58 were in the last 48 hours and 40 from previous days. 69 patients had co-morbidities. Civic authorities said while the growth rate in cases has fallen to 2% and recovery increased to 55%, deaths continue to be a cause for concern. “The daily average of deaths is still around 50-60,” said an official, adding that the fatality rate is touching 6%.
Meanwhile, within MMR, Thane registered the highest cases and deaths recorded in a day as 264 cases were added, taking the tally to 7,091, while 12 deaths were reported by the corporation, taking the toll to 245. The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation reported 236 cases on Thursday, taking the count of cases there to 5,639. Nine deaths were reported on Thursday, taking the toll to 189.
The Panvel City Municipal Corporation areas reported 82 cases, including an 18-day-old baby, taking the total number of cases there to 1,612. The PCMC also reported one death, taking the toll to 66.
The Panvel rural area reported its single-day high of 36 cases, taking the tally to
496. Uran taluka too had seven fresh cases, taking the total number there to 230.
-Inputs by Vijay Singh, Umesh Parida, Manoj Badgeri