No new Covid-19 deaths in city, first time in 11 months

Mumbai last saw zero deaths in 24 hours on March 31, 2020; state records 5,210 fresh infections

MUMBAI: Mumbai on Monday reported zero deaths due to Covid-19, its first such day since March 31, 2020, according to data from the state health department. Maharashtra added 5,210 fresh Covid-19 cases, taking its total to 2,106,094 and alarmingly, pushing its active case count to 53,113.

India’s financial capital reported its first Covid-19 death on March 17, 2020, six days after its first case. As of Monday, Mumbai has reported 11,446 deaths. Mumbai’s mortality rate went from around 6% in June 2020 to 4% in January 2021, followed by 3.58% in February 2021, which civic officials attribute to early treatment and detection. Mumbai has seen 319,889 Covid-19 cases, followed by 301,593 recoveries at a recovery rate of 94.28%. There are 5,986 active infections in the city.

Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner, said, “The mortality rate has gone down in the city as there is a proper system in place and also citizens have better awareness about the virus one year down the line. Due to better treatment, tracing and awareness among citizens, the mortality rate has

gone down.”

Meanwhile, a day after Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray warned citizens to follow Covid-19 protocol or risk a lockdown, the health department and district authorities have already swung in action to tackle the increase in cases. Some districts such as Nagpur imposed stringent restrictions on the movement of people, including shutting markets, schools and colleges, among others, to break the chain of transmission, while not affecting daily economic activities.

The state added 18 fatalities due to Covid-19 on Monday to push the toll to 51,806. Of the 18 deaths reported, six occurred in the past 48 hours and nine in the past week. The remaining three deaths were from the period before last week. Mumbai topped in the state by recording 761 fresh cases on Monday, followed by Nagpur city (643), Amravati city (555) and Pune city (336). Maharashtra, which is witnessing a resurgence of cases, recorded over 6,000 infections daily for the past three days.