COVID-19: Mumbai's mortality rate lowest in world, says BMC chief

mumbai corona cases, mumbai covid cases — Image Source : PTI (FILE)
COVID-19: Mumbai's mortality rate lowest in world, claims BMC chief

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner Iqbal Chahal has claimed that the mortality rate in Mumbai due to Covid-19 infection is lowest among some of big cities in the world fighting the pandemic. Speaking to India TV on Monday, he said that 90 per cent of people in Mumbai are wearing face masks.

"The second wave started on February 10. As many as 3.9 lakh positive cases have been reported in the second wave. A total of 1,319 people died which translates into 0.4 per cent of mortality. This is the lowest in any city in the world," he said.

"On April 4, there were 11,000 cases. Yesterday, 5,500 cases were reported. In the last 24 hours, Mumbai reported 3,792 cases (data will be released today evening). Also, the positivity rate has been reduced to 31% from 13%," Chahal added.

When asked about the lockdown, he said, "Restrictions this time are different from last year's lockdown. Restrictions have definitely helped us to flatten the curve."

Chahal said that vaccination has also helped in checking the rising cases. He said that more vaccination centres will be set up to ensure smooth vaccination drive for those beyond 18.

On skyrocketing demand for Remdesivir injection, he said that there is no shortage of the drug in BMC hospitals and that the state government is taking all possible steps to ensure smooth supply to hospitals.

Earlier on Sunday, Mumbai recorded 5,542 new Covid-19 cases, its lowest single-day rise in infections so far in April, pushing the overall tally to 6,27,651. On Saturday, Mumbai had recorded 5,888 cases. On March 31, Mumbai had reported 5,394 new cases, but the figure had gone above the 8,000-mark the next day. It is for the first time since April 12 that the number of daily cases is less than 7,000.

The virus claimed the lives of 64 patients on Sunday. With this, the COVID-19 fatality count of the country's financial capital has gone up to 12,783.