While the BMC has been receiving widespread kudos, BJP legislator uses this measure to argue dipping cases are due to low testing
Satam also warned about the crowds such as this one at the BKC centre. File pic/Shadab Khan
The city saw more than 1,500 deaths from April 14 to May 6. Compared to the first half of April, the average deaths almost doubled, as the first half saw 31 deaths daily on an average. BJP MLA Ameet Satam said the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) should devise a focused plan to curtail deaths instead of boasting about their work.
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According to the BMC’s data, the total number of deaths recorded from April 1 to April 13 were 402. However, from April 14 to May 6 the number of deaths recorded are 1,532, an average of about 67 deaths daily.
While the cases have not gone up rapidly in these two periods, the MLA claimed that it is because of reduced testing.
Ameet Satam
In a letter written to the BMC commissioner on Friday, Satam has claimed that average testing too has gone down by about 20 per cent as compared to the first half of April, leading to less cases and giving the civic body an opportunity to claim that cases in Mumbai are reducing. The average number of tests in the first half of the month of April were over 47K, in the second half till May 6 this went down to 39K.
He wrote in the letter, “In addition to number of cases, the number of deaths should be an important parameter to evaluate the virility of the virus and the rate of infection. Apart from increased testing per day, devise a strategy to reduce deaths, share death committee findings instead of switching to a jubilant mode. It’s also disturbing to see the huge crowds outside vaccination centres and it’s my fear that these centres will turn into Covid-19 infection hotspots.”
‘Music to team BMC’s ears’
A file picture of Dr Rajesh Dere
Amid the criticism came praise for the BMC. Melody queen Lata Mangeshkar has written a letter praising the dean of the Jumbo Covid Centre at BKC, Dr Rajesh Dere, for his service to Maharashtra. She wrote that he has been working hard day and night for the state and she will pray to God that he is always happy. The BMC tweeted alongwith a picture of the letter that ‘these words of appreciation are nothing less than music to the ears of not just the Dean of @bkchospital Rajesh Dere, but also the entire team of MCGM.’ They added, ‘Lata ji your words have infused a new found energy in us.’
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