Mumbai: There were 2,487 new corona cases with 89 deaths recorded in the state on Sunday, taking the toll to 67,665, with 2,286 deaths. 1,244 of the new cases, including 52 deaths, were in Mumbai, pushing its total to 39,786 so far, with 1,279 deaths.
A total of 1,284 patients were discharged on Sunday, taking the total number of recoveries in the state to 29,329, or 43.34 per cent. Last Friday, with the discharge of 8,381 patients, the recovery rate for a single day had jumped from 31.2 per cent to 43.3. This phenomenon could be attributed to district authorities completing the herculean task of checking how many patients in their region had recovered over the last few days and updating their database, according to officials.
Fifty-two of the 89 deaths were reported in Mumbai, followed by nine each in Navi Mumbai and Pune, six in Malegaon, five in Thane, four in Kalyan-Dombivli, two in Solapur and one each in Osmanabad and Yavatmal. “Thirty-nine deaths occurred in the last two days, while 50 occurred during the period from April 27 to May 27, which were updated on Sunday,” said Dr Pradip Awate, state surveillance officer.
According to the state government’s release on Sunday, of the 4.47 lakh tested samples, 67,665 samples reported positive, and the doubling rate had gone up from 11.3 days last week to 17.5 days on Sunday. The recovery rate has increased to 43.34 per cent, while the mortality rate is at 3.37 per cent.
Mumbai officials too projected a bright picture on Sunday, saying that the city’s doubling rate had increased to 16 days—up from 10 days in the first week of May. In the city’s six worst affected wards, five of which have 2,000-plus cases, the doubling rate has increased to 20 days, they said. The cure rate stands at 42 per cent.
“There is no way of stating that we are at the peak or the worst is yet to come. However, considering the death rate of 3.2%, from the 6% earlier on, we can say we are on the right track,” said Additional Municipal Commissioner Suresh Kakani.
To prevent the possible spread of infection, the state government is now planning to penalise people found spitting tobacco in public places. Spitting in public places has been prohibited for a long time but no punitive measures against offenders have been taken in the past .
The state government is planning to use the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, to impose a fine of Rs 1,000 and one-day public service on first-time offenders. A second-time offender will have to shell out Rs 3,000 and offer three-day public service, while third-time offenders will have to pay a fine of Rs 5,000 and provide five days of public service.
