Mumbai saw all-time low Covid-19 death rate in November

A passenger is tested at the LTT on Saturday. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

Mumbai saw an all-time low death rate last month since the beginning of the pandemic. In November the death rate was 0.35 per cent, while in March 2020 the death rate was 0.56 per cent. It had gone up to 1.18 per cent in April 2021. As per the report received from the BMC's health department, the city has been seeing a steady fall in death rate after July.

In July, the COVID death rate was 0.69 per cent, and it was 0.57 per cent in October. In the first wave, the death rate fell to 0.56 per cent in February after which it kept rising.

‘Credit to BMC'

Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner, BMC said the credit for drop in death rate goes to the BMC's initiatives and foresightedness in COVID-19 management.

"We streamlined bed allocations for patients through our war rooms. Our jumbo facilities had ample oxygen storage that helped us in the second wave. We started Mission Save Lives and optimised our treatment protocols," he said.

Kakani said while the focus since the second wave has been on reducing the daily numbers and bringing deaths to single digit, the BMC's health department stayed focused on early detection and early allotment of beds. "We had active and preventive surveillance of COVID cases which helped in early detection and to bring the death rate down," he said.

Of the four times that the city saw zero COVID-19 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic, three were this month. As per the civic body data, senior citizens accounted for 76 per cent of COVID deaths in January, 84 per cent in February and 80 per cent in March. As vaccination opened for the elderly in March, their deaths dropped to 65 per cent in April, while that of people between 40-60 years touched 30 per cent, up from 14 per cent in March. In September and October, however, their proportion rose to 79 per cent and 80 per cent, respectively, almost like the pre-vaccination months.

‘Follow appropriate behaviour'

Dr Avinash Supe, ex-director of BMC tertiary care hospitals and head of the state COVID-19 death audit committee said it was seen that 50 per cent of the patients died within 48 hours of admission and there was also three to six days delay in starting treatment since the onset of the symptoms. "We are in the endemic stage. The stigma related to the disease is also less.

People should ensure they are vaccinated and take medical help if they have symptoms. We need to continue following COVID-19 appropriate behaviour amid the Omicron variant," he said.

While there has been a steady decrease in the death rate and the city's test positivity rate has been below 1 per cent for the past few weeks, Section 144 has been imposed amid the Omicron variant fear and keeping in mind the New Year revelry.

Dr Rahul Pandit, director-Critical Care, Fortis Hospitals Mumbai and national COVID-19 Task Force member said, "In the ongoing situation and the fear of the new Omicron variant around, it is important that people strictly follow COVID-19 appropriate protocols. It is especially important to avoid crowded places and venture out without double masking. Imposition of Section 144 in the city is to safeguard the citizens; and we must bear the responsibility of being cautious too. Stay guarded and help healthcare providers and authorities by staying at home."

.35
Percentage of death rate in city in November