Deadliest day yet in Mumbai

City records 136 deaths; 1,190 new cases take tally to 65,329

June 21, 2020 02:16 am | Updated 02:30 am IST - Mumbai

Mumbai on Saturday recorded 136 COVID-19 fatalities, its highest in a day, taking its death toll to 3,561. The city also reported 1,190 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, pushing its tally to 65,329.

Of the latest deaths, 75 were reported between June 16 and 19, and the remaining before June 16, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials said. Among the victims, 92 had co-morbid conditions such as diabetes and asthma.

Bed crunch eases

Even as civic officials face the dual challenge of containing the spread of COVID-19 and tackling monsoon-related ailments, the city’s hospital bed crunch has eased with more vacant beds being made available.

A BMC official said the availability of beds has increased because a greater number of people living in high-rises have opted to receive treatment at home. Nearly 16,000 patients are being treated at home.

As per the BMC’s dashboard, of the 11,906 beds in dedicated COVID-19 health centres and dedicated COVID-19 hospitals, 2499 (21%) were vacant as on Saturday. Even the availability of intensive care unit (ICU) beds has increased, with the occupancy rate dropping from 99% to 92%. As on Saturday, 72 of the 1,219 ICU beds were lying vacant. The city’s recovery rate stands at 50%. In all, 32,867 patients have recovered and returned home. Of these, 610 were discharged from hospitals on Saturday. The city’s case doubling time is 34 days.

Lowest rise in Dharavi

On Saturday, the city’s densest slum pocket, Dharavi, recorded only seven new cases, its lowest single-day jump, taking its tally to 2,158. The BMC officials attributed the decline to intensive contact tracing and containment efforts. Dadar and Mahim, also located in G North ward, recorded nine and 18 new cases respectively.

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