Maharashtra COVID mortality rate down to 3.27% from 7.6%

Mumbai: Maharashtra Government on Wednesday said that coronavirus cases in Mumbai may not increase to 1.25 lakh as predicted by the union health ministry and World Health Organisation experts but reach up to 60,000 by May 30.

In a serious bid to counter BJP’s campaign against the state government, the Maha Vikas Aghadi partners said the government’s containment strategy has been yielding results as the doubling rate has slowed down to 14.5 days and the death rate has been reduced to 3.27% from 7.6%.

NCP state unit chief and Water Resources Minister Jayant Patil said the government is in the midst of increasing the testing laboratories to 100 by adding 28 more. There are 13,000 tests being conducted daily from 700 tests last months.

Patil said in Mumbai, of the 34,018 COVID-19 patients, active patients are 24,507 while 8,108 already discharged. ‘’Our estimate shows that the number may reach up to 60,000 by May 30 but BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation has strengthened the bed capacity to accommodate the increased patients,’’ he noted.

He admitted that the population density of Mumbai is at 73,000 people per sq mile as it is the home to all commercial activity in India. This makes the city one of the most densely populated cities in the world. ‘’Maharashtra has been the worst-hit state, the figures are alarming and yet the response has been our utmost best. We have a lower mortality rate at 3.27% than many other states including Gujarat with 6.17%. We have achieved the highest number of the recovered patients in a given day, more than 1,200 patients discharged,’’ he noted.