Eight new COVID-19 deaths were reported in Mumbai on Wednesday, but State health authorities confirmed only four of them, taking the State’s death toll to 16. A majority of the new cases so far have no travel history.
A 50-year-old man from Girgaum was among one of the four confirmed dead by the State. He had persistent cough for the past three days and was rushed to JJ Hospital on Tuesday after suffering breathlessness. “Since the hospital’s casualty ward was extremely crowded, we took him to HN Reliance Foundation Hospital. They told us that they did not have beds and referred us to Kasturba Hospital, where he was admitted,” said a relative, adding that the patient died a few hours after admission.
His test reports came positive on Wednesday morning. The deceased ran a photo frame shop in CP Tank and had been stepping out to buy essential supplies every day. “We immediately contacted everyone in the building and informed them that the tests were positive,” said the relative who alleged that the staff at Kasturba Hospital refused to shift the body for a long time. “At Chandanwadi crematorium, the labourers too refused to take the body inside,” the relative alleged.
The State health officials also confirmed that a 73-year-old woman had succumbed at Wockhardt Hospital in Mumbai Central even as hospital sources confirmed two more deaths of senior citizens. The civic-run Nair Hospital also recorded the death of a 63-year-old woman.
Among the deaths that the State was yet to confirm included a 56-year-old man from Dharavi as well as 63-year-old man from Malvani, both densely populated slum areas in Mumbai. While the Dharavi man had tested positive on Wednesday morning and died the same evening, the Malvani man tested positive on Tuesday and passed away on Wednesday.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) L ward, consisting of Kurla and Saki Naka areas, has also seen two deaths so far. According to the assistant municipal commissioner of L ward Manish Walunj, a 78 year-old resident of New Mill Road in Kurla (West) was admitted to Bhabha Hospital after he tested positive. He passed away on Monday. On Tuesday, a 63 year-old resident of Mohili village in Saki Naka died. He was later tested positive for COVID-19. Neither had any history of foreign travel nor had come in contact with any positive patient. Both are residents of chawls and the BMC has declared the entire area a containment zone.
The State also confirmed the deaths of a 50-year-old man from Palghar and a 86 year-old woman from Ghatkopar, which have been reported earlier.
