Maharashtra reported 328 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, with 183 of them being from Mumbai. With this, the total number of cases in the state has reached 3,648. Ten patients died, taking the toll to 211 across the state. With Mumbai recording only 12 cases on Friday, the sudden jump has been attributed to differences in reported numbers by the BMC and the state government. State officials said they are now confirming each case being reported from a district after studying laboratory reports and confirming the addresses of patients. Of the 3,648 cases, Mumbai has reported 2,268 with 126 deaths — the highest for any city in India. Since the last four days, Mumbai had been recording a dip in cases after BMC modified its testing criteria and stopped testing asymptomatic people. On Saturday, with a sudden rise in cases, officials said the erratic numbers made it hard to see any trends immediately. “We have to wait for a few days to understand whether cases are declining or rising in Mumbai,” a state health official said. Of the 10 deaths reported on Saturday, five were from Mumbai, three in Pune and one in Aurangabad. In Mumbai, a 58-year-old woman, also suffering from hypertension, died on Saturday in Bandra Bhabha hospital two days after she was admitted. A 60-year-old woman, who suffered from diabetes and hypertension, died at Rajawadi hospital on Thursday. A 55-year-old woman suffering from bronchial asthma died in Rajawadi hospital on Friday, a day after hospitalisation. In Kasturba hospital, a 65-year-old man died on Friday, a day after hospitalisation. He had no co-morbidities but suffered age-related complications. State officials said in 82 per cent of the cases, the COVID-19 patients had comorbidities like heart disease, asthma, hypertension and diabetes, which led to further complication. At least five were over 60 years old. “A death audit will help us in understanding clinical factors that are leading to deaths and how we can prevent them. In some cases, the virus is behaving aggressively but in most cases it is mild. Alcohol intake is also affecting a person’s immunity,” said Dr Hemant Deshmukh, dean in KEM hospital. In Pune, a 75-year-old man succumbed to the infection on Saturday. The man also suffered from pulmonary TB. While a 58 year-old-man died late Friday at Poona hospital, another person who was brought dead to KEM hospital on Thursday, tested positive for the virus on Friday night. Nagpur reported four more cases on Saturday, taking the city’s count to 63.
