Maharashtra sees sharpest one-day toll of 985 Covid-19 deaths | Mumbai news - Hindustan Times
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Maharashtra sees sharpest one-day toll of 985 Covid-19 deaths

By, Mumbai
Apr 29, 2021 01:46 AM IST

With 985 deaths, Maharashtra reported its highest single-day jump in Covid-19 fatalities for the second consecutive day, taking the toll to 67,214.

With 985 deaths, Maharashtra reported its highest single-day jump in Covid-19 fatalities for the second consecutive day, taking the toll to 67,214. The state also added 63,309 infections, taking the tally to 4,473,394. Active cases stood at 673,481. Although cases saw a slight dip last week with a lockdown, the state has seen a 71% increase in deaths from the previous week.

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A week after Maharashtra announced a lockdown from April 22, the weekly growth of infections has seen a dip. Between April 15 and April 21, the state recorded 387,972 cases, which came down to 378,554 between April 22 and April 28. Deaths, however, increased in the period. In the past seven days, Maharashtra saw 4,735 deaths, a 71.29% increase from the previous week — 2,758 deaths. A senior health official said it would be early to gauge the impact of lockdown. “The state had imposed a curfew from April 13, which got a mild response from people. This slight dip could because of that. We will know the impact of lockdown in the next week,” he said.

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Meanwhile, the state cabinet on Wednesday has decided to extend the lockdown by 15 days from May 1. A formal order is expected to be issued by April 30, senior officials said.

Dr Subhash Salunkhe, former director-general of health services and advisor to the state government on Covid-19, said some decline is seen, but it is not a trend. “Mumbai, Pune and a few places are showing a decline, but it has to sustain for a couple of weeks. Every wave has a fluctuation. So, whether this is a trend or minor low we cannot say,” he said.

On Wednesday, Mumbai showed higher case-count with 4,926 new infections. The city recorded under 4,000-cases on April 26 and 27. However, the positivity rate was much lower compared last week at 12.58%. Mumbai also recorded 78 deaths to take its death toll to 12,954. Mumbai has 67,984 active cases.

Pune district topped the districts with 169 fatalities, of which 117 came from Pune city. Thane district reported 91 deaths, Nagpur saw 83 deaths, and Aurangabad 81 fatalities. Nashik and Nandurbar reported 41 and 43 deaths, respectively. Satara reported 38, Yavatmal and Ahmednagar districts saw 32 deaths each, while Latur reported 31 deaths. Of the 985 deaths reported on Wednesday, 392 occurred in the past 48 hours and 251 in the last week. The remaining 342 deaths are from the period before last week, the health department said.

As the state has been clocking over 800 deaths for the past three days, high death rate noted in some rural areas, according to a presentation given to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday on the Covid situation. Sindhudurg district’s weekly case fatality rate (CFR) has risen from 1.1% between April 12 and 18 to 3.66% between April 19 and 25. Nanded district has seen as similar rise in CFR from 1.46% to 3.46% during the same period. Osmanabad, Solapur and Amravati districts too have seen a spike in fatality rate in the last two weeks.

Dr Salunkhe added the administration and health department are trying their best to contain the deaths. “We are fighting shortage of oxygen and drugs. Unlike last year when the growth of cases was steady, this year we have seen cases mount in matter of a few weeks. Due to the sheer accelerated growth in cases, the death has increased,” he said. According to the data presented, the state’s weekly average increase in cases was 1.52%, which is down from 1.72% the previous week.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Swapnil Rawal is Principal Correspondent with the Hindustan Times. He covers urban development and infrastructure. He had long stints with leading national dailies and has experience of over a decade in journalism.

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