The number of people infected with the novel coronavirus in Maharashtra rose by nearly 30% to touch 635 with 145 new positive cases reported on Saturday. Nearly 60% of these cases, 377, were reported from Mumbai. The city has also recorded the highest number of 22 deaths out of 32 in the State.
Four new deaths were reported from Mumbai on Saturday. Among them is a 53-year-old retired mill worker who was an asthma patient, a 67-year-old retired BEST driver with diabetes, a 43-year-old woman with heart disease, diabetes and chronic lung disease, and a 70-year-old man with no underlying ailments. Two others include a 57-year-old electrician from Mumbra who had diabetes and hypertension, and a 47-year-old mechanic from Amravati who had asthma. At least three of the deceased have no travel history while contact tracing in other cases was on.
Patients with co-morbid conditions like diabetes, hypertension, asthma and others have shown poor recovery rates and a majority of the fatalities have been of patients with one or more underlying ailments.
Mumbai has also scaled up testing and carried out 10,000 tests, highest in the State. “We are reporting more cases because we have put a lot of focus on testing people now. This will help in containing the spread in the long run,” said a civic official. More than nine lakh people were surveyed and screened in the city and all high-risk contacts living in dense areas have been shifted to lodges and hostels.
In Mumbai 34 people have recovered and been discharged from hospitals, while 52 patients have been discharged across the State. A 34-year-old woman who was admitted to Nanavati Hospital was among the patients discharged on Friday. “The psychological impact of being tested positive was worse than my medical condition,” said the woman. Her mother who was admitted at the HN Reliance Hospital was also discharged on Friday.
Saifee Hospital reopens
Meanwhile, Saifee Hospital that had closed OPD and admissions after a patient who was treated there tested positive, resumed operations on Saturday and announced a 50-bed COVID-19 facility. On Saturday, the hospital has already admitted one positive patient. “During the shut down period, the hospital has completed super sanitisation of the premises and will ensure complete safety and security of its patients and staff members,” hospital’s director Dr Vernon Desa said in a statement.
Moved out
At least 40-50 families from Worli’s Jijamata Nagar have meanwhile, been moved to local quarantine facilities. The area had seen at least two positive cases in the past. On Saturday, the numbers increased.
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Former MLA and senior Shiv Sena leader from the area Sachin Ahir said, “There are at least 16 new cases while reports of three are awaited. They have been admitted to a hospital. Other families were moved out of Jijamata Nagar for their safety. We have even converted the refuge area of an under construction building behind Doordarshan into a quarantine facility. Some people will be kept there while others will be moved to Poddar. We are providing every facility there while they stay under observation.”
However, assistant municipal commissioner Sharad Ughade and officials from the BMC’s health department were not available to confirm this. (With inputs from Tanvi Deshpande)
