5 wards see more than 100 deaths
STATE CLARIFIED THAT IT WILL CONTINUE ADMINISTERING HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE TO HIGH-RISK CONTACTS AND FRONTLINE STAFF AS PER ICMR PROTOCOL
Five wards of Mumbai, which cover areas such as Kurla, Bandra (East), Mankhurd, Govandi, Andheri West, Jogeshwari, Byculla and Mumbai Central, have reported more than 100 Covid-19 related deaths each, according to the civic body’s data. However, officials of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said while the deceased had tested positive for the virus, the death audit committee is yet to certify if the deaths were due to Covid-19 or other underlying conditions.
As of Tuesday, 1,065 deaths in Mumbai have been certified as Covid-19 deaths, according to the state health department. The city saw 1,002 cases and 39 deaths on Tuesday, bringing the case count to 32,974 and toll to 1065. While the data for Tuesday for the five wards wasn’t released at the time of going to press on Monday, L ward (Kurla) had 154 Covid-related deaths, E ward (Byculla, Mumbai Central) had 129, K -West (Andheri West, Jogeshwari, Oshiwara) 103, M-east (Govandi) had 108 and H-east (Bandra East, Santacruz E) had 116 deaths.
Padmaja Keskar, chief of the BMC’S health department, said, “Once we get the data on the number of deaths, the death audit committee scrutinises and certifies the death as Covid-19 death, after which they are reflected in the toll.”
As of Monday, of the 1,026 deaths in the city, 67% had comorbidities. While 26% had diabetes, 24% hypertension; 32% both diabetes and hypertension; 8% had heart diseases, and 10% other comorbidities. The five wards accounted for around 7,800 cases by Monday. Topping the list was E Ward (1,726 cases), followed by L ward (1,689 cases), H-east (1,680 cases), K-west (1,623 cases) and M-east ward with more than 1,150 cases. The wards are densely populated, cover more areas and have a high number of slum pockets. The numbers are in contrast to G-north and G-south wards that cover areas such as Worli, Prabhadevi, Dharavi, Dadar and Mahim and have more than 3,000 cases, but less than 100 deaths.
Manish Valanju, assistant municipal commissioner of L ward, said, “As per the 2011 census, the ward has a population of 9 lakh. A majority of the deceased are senior citizens or those having other ailments. We have screened 60,000 senior citizens so far and are screening more.”
Another BMC official from M-east ward said, “The ward is densely populated like L Ward, and a huge chunk of population has other ailments. There have been several incidents of crowding, especially during night hours, when shopkeepers used to open shops, after which curbs were brought in.”
Iqbal Chahal, BMC commissioner, on Tuesday held a videoconference. He said, “Our mortality rate earlier was very high, but now we are working towards maintaining it close to the national average of less than 2%. Our mortality rate currently is 3.2%.” Chahal has asked BMC officials to quarantine at least 15 contacts in slums. Aneesh Makwana, BJP corporator from Andheri, said, “More people need to be traced and screened. Also, many are not getting beds on time, which aggravates the condition. The BMC needs to work on it, if the city is yet to hit the peak.”
Dr Siddarth Paliwal, a Mumbai-based health consultant with a private hospital, said, “The number of deaths in every part of the city depends on the number of citizens being screened there. One needs to detect patients at an early stage, considering there are several reasons behind citizens having symptoms or otherwise not coming forward.”