COVID-19: Deaths increase in Mumbai, but civic chief says, ‘rate low’

Preparations on to increase the number of beds at a COVID centre in Dadar West. File pic

With the second wave of the pandemic hitting hard, the city has seen a rapid rise in the number of COVID-19 deaths over the past two months, but what still remains a positive development is that the ratio of deaths to positive cases continues to be quite low, indicating that the situation is still under control. According to the state government's data, Mumbai reported 118 deaths in the month of February, but the same figure shot up to 704 from April 1 till April 19.

A patient waits outside the Dahisar jumbo COVID centre as beds are not available. File pic

With the deaths increasing multifold, the need for more ICU and ventilator beds continues to rise. While the second wave started to kick in from February, the situation became worse in March with the number of deaths increasing by almost 100 per cent as compared to the previous month. From March 1 to April 1, the city recorded 229 deaths. However, from April 1 till April 19, the number of deaths has tripled to about 704. The city has been reporting an average of 7,000 to 8,000 fresh cases daily over the past couple of days, yet the deaths have been around 40 to 50 daily, thus increasing gradually. As Mumbai has started to face a shortage of beds with only 43 ICU beds ICU and 20 ventilator ones currently available, the administration is making all efforts to increase the infrastructure. They plan to add 200 odd ICU beds to meet the upcoming requirements. The city has 87,698 active cases of which 1,396 patients are critical.

However, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) claims that the numbers are under check and people should not panic about the deaths. Even Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal compared the number of deaths in Mumbai to those in Delhi and said that while the city recorded 953 deaths since the start of the second wave, Delhi reported 240 deaths in a single day on Monday.

Speaking to mid-day, Chahal said, "Mumbai recorded 953 deaths in the last 70 days. Our death rate has been 0.03 per cent, an average of 13.6 deaths per day. Delhi recorded 240 deaths in just one day. Our ‘My Family My Responsibility' campaign, fining 26 lakh people for not wearing masks and healthcare mechanism have helped to keep the death rate in check."