ACTIVE CASES IN MUMBAI CAME DOWN TO 17% LAST MONTH

Greater number of cases in MMR and rest of the state

There is a good news for Mumbaikars – the active corona cases in the city have reduced to 17 per cent in the last one month. Civic officials and health experts attributed this decrease to more number of patients being discharged, increase in the number of testings and regular awareness amongst the citizens at the ward level.

For the past one month, fresh Covid-19 cases in a single day averaged between 1,000 and 1,400, the active cases have not shown a drastic increase owing to the high discharge rate of patients, who have recovered from the virus.

Data analysed by the Free Press Journal revealed there were 27,779 active cases on June 25 which reduced to 23,071 on July 25. The average growth rate of Covid-19 cases in Mumbai is 1.06 per cent. Until July 25, Mumbai has 1,07,891 corona cases, of which 78,777 have been recovered and discharged.

According to BMC, 73 per cent of Covid-19 patients have recovered and discharged as per the protocols outlined by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The doubling rate of cases has also increased to 66 days. “Implementation of lockdown in the city helped identify the wards and areas which have the most corona cases. Moreover, starting aggressive testing across the city helped us to start early diagnosis which yielded a good recovery rate,” said Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner.

Even though the daily average rise in cases has been 1,200 for the past couple of weeks, the state authorities said a lower positivity rate amid towns in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). The local administrations have resorted to stringent curbs on movement of people and re-inforced lockdowns. “Municipal commissioners or district collectors can decide on lockdown. It has proven to be an effective way to contain the spread. The effects of such limited period lockdown show after 10 to 15 days,” said a senior bureaucrat.

An analysis of state health department data showed that Pune district had 7,071 active cases on June 22, and on July 21 it had 36,810 active cases, which is 61.61% of the total infections recorded in the district. A month ago, it had 43.97 per cent active cases.

Thane has the second-highest number of active cases at 36,180, which is 45.27% of the total caseload in the district. The Thane district has been clocking a high number of cases in the past month. On June 22, it had 25,390 cases with 14,555 active infections. On July 22, its tally stood at 79,911 cases with 36,180 active infections.