Mumbai’s COVID-19 death toll recorded a massive jump on Tuesday, thanks to data reconciliation by the State government. From 2,250 on Monday, the number went up to 3,167 and the case fatality rate zoomed to 5.2% from 3.7%.
The city also recorded 935 new cases, taking the cumulative tally to 60,228.
While 55 deaths were recorded on Tuesday, the reconciliation exercise added 862 previous fatalities to the toll. A media release from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said these deaths were since March. Mumbai’s first positive COVID-19 case was recorded on March 11.
The Opposition has questioned the BMC’s delay in updating figures. “This is nothing but a criminal conspiracy to show reduced number of COVID-19 deaths, and an FIR should be registered against those responsible,” demanded former BJP MP Kirit Somaiya.
A member of the civic death audit committee told The Hindu the data was already being reconciled, and the work was sped up after a directive from the Indian Council of Medical Research to update statistics immediately. “The committee was clearing as much backlog as possible. Many private hospitals had not submitted their papers. Also, the committee members are mainstream doctors and officials who are at the centre of fighting the outbreak. This left us with limited time to handle paperwork,” said the member. Each death has to be rationalised before being labelled a COVID-19 death. “The issue has been politicised unnecessarily,” he said.
Ward watch
Dharavi reported 21 new cases on Tuesday, pushing its total tally to 2,089. The area has reported 77 deaths so far. K East ward (Andheri) continued to have the highest number of cases in Mumbai, with is total now at 4,130. G North ward, which includes Dharavi, is a close second at 3,917 cases.
There are only two wards with fewer than 1,000 cases now. Mumbai’s case doubling rate now stands at 28 days, and its average case growth is 2.49%. R North continued to grow the fastest at 5.6%.
Meanwhile, a municipal security guard stationed at KEM Hospital, who had tested positive on June 11, passed away on Tuesday. So far, 114 security staffers from BMC have tested positive, of which seven died.
NMMC crosses 4,000
The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) on Tuesday reported 63 more cases, taking its tally to 4,061. Three more deaths took the death toll to 124.
Of the total cases, only 1582 are active. With 49 patients discharged on Tuesday, total recoveries now stand at 2,355. The NMMC’s recovery rate is 58% and mortality rate 3%. The three deaths reported on Tuesday were of a 66-year-old from Sector 2, Vashi, a 40-year-old from Pawane village in Koparkhairane, and a 69-year-old from Sector 3 in Airoli.
Till now, the NMMC has tested 15,487 samples, of which 10,892 have tested negative and 534 reports are pending.
The Panvel Municipal Corporation (PMC) has reported 21 new cases, taking its tally to 1,037. The death of a 64-year-old woman from Kamothe took its total fatalities to 46.As many as 23 recoveries on Tuesday took the total recoveries to 732. With 259 active cases, the PMC has a recovery rate of 70.5% and mortality rate of 4.4%. It has tested 3,911 samples, of which 100 reports are pending.
Eleven more people tested positive in Panvel rural limits, taking its tally to 500. Seven more people recovered, taking the total to 398, while no new deaths were reported. The death toll remains 12. Till now, 1,023 people have been tested, and 17 of the reports are pending.
(With inputs from Raina Assainar)
