Mumbai: COVID-19 cases rose, deaths dipped in February

A passenger gets tested for COVID at Dadar station on Sunday. Pic/Ashish Raje

After reaching the lowest number in January, COVID-19 cases saw a resurgence in February after the first week. Though the average number of daily cases has increased from 516 in January to 668 in February, the average number of daily deaths has reduced to four, an all-time low.

Health workers check the temperature and oxygen saturation of arriving passengers in Dadar. Pic/Ashish Raje

While everyone relaxed during the new year amid a low number of cases and a Test Positivity Rate (TPR) of 3.6 per cent, nine days after the reopening of local trains, the trend changed. "Though the reason behind the increase in cases is still not exactly known, the BMC is acting against those not wearing masks and large social gatherings like weddings, clubs etc.," said a BMC officer.

Four times in February, the number of daily cases has crossed the 1,000 mark, which is the most, after the last week of November 2020. The average daily cases of 668 are more than the average of December (650), but lower than that of November (859).

On the other hand, the graph of deaths continues to point downwards. At the peak of the pandemic, there were over 50 deaths on most days. The average monthly deaths were 1,444 in September and rose to 1,606 in October. After six months of the pandemic, the death toll started reducing in November. In December, the daily average of deaths was 10, while January saw 234 deaths. Even as the number of cases increases, February has seen 111 deaths in 27 days. Of these, four were of those aged below 50 years, 16 were of those aged 50 to 59 years and the rest were of those above 60 years.

Of the 11,465 deaths in Mumbai, 85 per cent (9,755) are of those aged above 50 years. The TPR, too, remains lower. As opposed to the 28 per cent in June 2020, it has stayed below 4 per cent since December.

City's COVID-19 report
Month Cases Deaths

Till April 7,625 295
end
May 33,252 1,024
June 37,831 3,310'
July 36,638 1,766
August 31,601 1,295
Sept 60,547 979
October 50,914 1,606
Nov 25,776 544
Dec 20,151 306
January 16,001 234
Till Feb 27 18,031 111

'Reconciliation of deaths in earlier months
'' The number of cases may vary due to the reconciliation of data in the next months.