Covid cases down by 74%, Mumbai reports zero deaths
Mumbai reported zero Covid deaths on Tuesday for the second time since the outbreak of the third wave in December last year
Mumbai Mumbai reported zero Covid deaths on Tuesday for the second time since the outbreak of the third wave in December last year. Before this, the city saw zero Covid deaths on January 2, 2022.
Since the pandemic started, Mumbai first reported zero Covid fatalities for the first time on October 17, 2021. Following this, the city reported zero deaths on seven days during December 2021.
Meanwhile, the city recorded 235 fresh infections on Tuesday and the state logged 2,381 cases and 35 deaths. The positivity rate stood at 2.14 % as 2,381 cases were recorded of the total 1,11,219 tests.
With 25,338 tests done in the past 24 hours, the Test Positivity Rate (TPR) remained 0.92 per cent on Tuesday and this is the fourth consecutive day that the TPR remained below one per cent in Mumbai.
Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner and in charge of public health in BMC said that the fact that zero deaths were reported in Mumbai is a sign that the infection rate has started to decline.
“In Mumbai, the third wave was at the peak between January 5 and 7, following which, the mortality rate in Mumbai had seen a gradual marginal rise January 15 onwards,” said Kakani.
“Most of the patients who succumbed to the virus during the third wave were senior citizens or unvaccinated ones. Now that the death rate is showing such a steady fall, we can say that the intensity of infections is also not very high anymore,” said Kakani.
The BMC data also maintained that as of Tuesday (February 15), there is no containment zone or sealed building in Mumbai. Medical experts said that Mumbai has reached the lowest point in the third wave.
Meanwhile, Covid cases have declined significantly by approximately 74.11 % in the first 15 days of February compared to the same period in January. Against 4,87,919 new cases between January 1 and 15, the cases declined to 1,26,287 during the same period in February.
January was marked by the Omicron variant of Covid which resulted in massive surge of cases which has now declined considerably this month.
“The difference between the third wave and the previous Covid waves is that there is no thick tail in this one. It is only because of the high vaccination rate that we have been able to reach this point,” said Dr Shashank Joshi of the state Covid task force.
Joshi also maintained that citizens shouldn’t get complacent and should follow Covid norms.
“There has also been a change in the testing guidelines issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), which is why asymptomatic patients are not been tested. As a result, we should continue to wear masks and avoid crowded places and large gatherings,” said Joshi.
State surveillance officer Dr Pradeep Awate attributed the decline to various factors. “Those who were affected by the virus recently have now developed immunity. The vaccination drive has played a major role in these decreasing numbers,” said Dr Awate.
Dr Ameet Mandot, director, Gut Clinic said it indicates that the third wave is ebbing. “We are seeing almost the end of the wave in Maharashtra and it is no longer a major medical issue. We are seeing hardly any hospitalisation and even the deaths are confined to mainly those with comorbidities,” said Dr Mandot.