Though there has been a sudden drop in the number of Covid-19 cases in Mumbai, the mortality rate in the city remains above 2 per cent for the past 11 days and it is a matter of serious concern for the authorities.
According to the statistics, 781 people succumbed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus between May 1 and May 11, which means the Covid fatality rate (CFR) is 2.50 per cent. Moreover, the daily CFR which was below 1 per cent is now above 2 per cent.
Civic officials said they had anticipated deaths would remain high following which they had been in a discussion with the state task force about the deaths.
Suresh Kakani, Additional Municipal Commissioner, said the death rate has increased in the second wave and this is a cause of concern. Most of the patients are referred to the civic hospitals when their condition is worsened due to which mortality has increased. ‘Mission Save Lives’ is being followed in all the hospitals.
“We have asked the task force to give a presentation to all private and civic hospitals staff of Mumbai on the treatment protocol to be followed. We have observed that there is a late reporting of cases to the BMC or the Covid hospitals and late referral of cases from smaller hospitals to bigger Covid facilities and this has to be stopped. Besides, patients with comorbidities have to be given special attention,” Kakani said.
Dr Avinash Supe, head of the Death Audit committee said the death rate for Mumbai was 7.2 per cent in 2020 and the city reported 723 deaths in the third week of June.
“In September, the deaths never crossed 350 per week. Last week, the city had 489 deaths. We have a current death rate of 1.5 per cent and it had fallen to 0.33 per cent earlier. All our focus is to bring down the death rate of Mumbai in this Mission Save Lives. We have told everyone to have early admissions, proper oxygen supply to patients and optimal management of intensive care units,” Supe said.
According to Dr Tatrarao Lahane, director, Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER), the deaths have increased corresponding with the surge of the virus. “We saw increasing deaths due to the sec- ond wave which was more lethal than the first one. The current deaths are of those who have been affected mostly two weeks ago. Due to the lockdown, we will see the deaths stabilising and even coming down in the coming days,” said Lahane.
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