22 January,2021 07:00 AM IST | Mumbai | Anurag Kamble
Migrants leaving for their hometowns in the initial days of the pandemic. Authorities in Panvel were then forced to send patients to Mumbai as they struggled to manage the infections. File pic
For the seventh day on the trot, Panvel saw no COVID deaths on Thursday, bringing huge relief to citizens and civic officials. This is probably the first time a municipal corporation has recorded a week of zero deaths since the pandemic began last year. The Panvel Municipal Corporation has so far seen 619 fatalities.
The coronavirus had hit Panvel badly, forcing it to transfer patients to Navi Mumbai and Mumbai. Cases kept piling up for about six months from March 2020 before heading south. Ganpati and Diwali did cause a slight rise in daily cases but it never reached alarming levels.
After recording 141 deaths in September last year, fatalities dropped 25 in December.
"There has been a consistent decrease in the number of deaths. As the number of daily cases reduced, it has helped in the clinical management of symptomatic patients resulting in saving more lives," said a PMC official. "As of now, only 377 patients are undergoing treatment in hospitals, most of them are stable," he added.
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Sudhakar Deshmukh, who took charge as the civic chief in the middle of the pandemic, said, "It was a really tough job. For a month, we even had to declare entire Kamothe as a containment zone. The PMC team worked really well for the past 10 months bringing the pandemic in control," said Deshmukh, who along with his family contracted the infection in the first week of this month. He recently resumed duty.
The PMC commissioner credited citizens, health officials and doctors for saving lives. "Having no deaths due to COVID for 7 days is such a relief. We hope this will continue further and daily cases will also fall. On the other hand, as there are very few restrictions on the citizens, we are expecting them to act responsibly and stay away from crowds and get tested as soon if they develop any COVID-like symptoms," he added.
Total cases so far: 28,453
Total recovered: 27,457
Total deaths: 619
Active cases: 377
Deaths in this month: 18
(As of January 21)
