Mumbai: One month on, state & city record drop in active Covid cases

In what comes as a silver lining, the state and city recorded 26% and 54.26% drop in active Covid cases in the last 30 days, respectively. Officials have attributed this to several factors like implementation of restrictions and its ‘Break the Chain’ mission. These, officials claim, have played a vital role in curbing the cases. Moreover, in the last one week, the daily cases in the state and city have been below 10,000 and 800, respectively.

According to data received by FPJ between June 14 and July 12, there were 1,47,345 active cases till June 14. This further dropped to 1,08,343 on July 12. Similarly, the active cases in the city dropped to 7,120 from 15,550 during the same period.

Additional municipal commissioner Suresh Kakani said the restrictions have helped in curbing the virus. “We urge citizens to follow norms strictly so that the downward trend continues. Moreover, 87% of the active cases are asymptomatic. Only 2% to 3% are critical and need hospitalisation,” he said.

Kakani added that their main concern is how to contain the mortality rate. All Covid hospitals have been directed to follow Mission Save Lives. “The daily death rate is under 0.6. Even our overall case fatality rate, which was 5 between October and November last year, has dropped to 2.1,” said Kakani.

Meanwhile, state surveillance officer Dr. Pradeep Awate said that in the last few days patients have recovered within 10 to 14 days.

“The decision on lockdown in the state was taken at the right time. We have taken efforts to curb cases from rising, which includes increasing testing, contact tracing and treatment,” he said.

A senior official from the state health department said that though they have managed to control the number of active cases in the state, they will not compromise on the Covid care facilities and safety measures.

“We will maintain the same level of preparedness. The same level of oxygen supply, bed capacity, medicines and medical staff will be made available. The state needs to be prepared for any type of surge in cases,” he said.

The drop in active cases has been reported when the state is predicting another wave in July. “We have been augmenting our health infrastructure to be prepared to tackle spike in cases. The current dip in active cases has helped ease the burden on the health machinery,” the official said.

Meanwhile, health experts attributed this to better recovery rate in the city and reconciliation of cases due to which the numbers had increased in the past. “The state's recovery rate is 96%, which is better as compared to other states in the country. Also, mobility has increased and transmission of viruses has dropped. This is a good sign, but this has to be maintained until we report extremely less cases across the state,” said a public health expert.

source https://www.freepressjournal.in/mumbai/mumbai-one-month-on-state-city-record-drop-in-active-covid-cases