Mumbai: Number of Covid-19 deaths in October the same as September

A BMC health worker tests people at Dadar station on Sunday. Pic/Ashish Raje

The city reported zero COVID-19 deaths on October 17, but the number of deaths didn't decrease much in the month, despite the low cases. In October, in fact, the number of deaths are the same as those of September and the cases are also nearly the same. There isn't any further decline in cases.

In October, a total of 12,800 cases and 135 deaths were registered. Though the cases are much lower than the spike in the second wave in March and April, they are still on the higher side of August when there were restrictions on people's movement. In August, the city registered 9,252 cases with a daily average of 298 cases. In September, the average daily cases increased to 433 as many of the restrictions were removed. In October, the average came down to 417 daily cases.

Fully vaccinated people queue for tickets at Borivli railway station on Monday. Local trains have been opened up for the fully vaccinated and the BMC is also watching to see if cases rise due to this. Pic/Satej Shinde

In February this year, citizens were allowed to access local trains at the end of the first wave, and cases had risen sharply, registering a 21 per cent growth against January.

‘No sharp spike'

"The city opened up in mid-August. Though the cases increased slightly, there wasn't a sharp spike which is a good thing. But we are keeping an eye on the numbers as Diwali approaches. People have to observe COVID protocols like wearing masks and following social distancing," said Suresh Kakani, additional commissioner of the BMC.

Though the number of cases is similar to that of September, the number of deaths have not decreased significantly. In February, 115 deaths were reported despite having a higher number of cases (17,473). In October, the number of deaths was higher in the first half of the month.

The active cases in the city have come down. As of November 1, there are 3,849 active cases including 1,453 symptomatic and 280 critical patients. The city had 4,724 active cases on September 29. On August 31, there were 3,106 active cases.