Published 23:08 IST, June 18th 2020
Mumbai sees 1298 new COVID cases; city tally at 62,799 as doubling rate slows to 30 days
With a marginal dip in it Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases, Mumbai on Thursday, reported 1298 new cases and 67 new deaths. Mumbai is the worst-hit district in India
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With a marginal dip in it Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases, Mumbai on Thursday, reported 1298 new cases and 67 new deaths. The city also saw 518 patients get discharged taking the cured tally to 31,856. The city's tally stands at 62,799 cases with 3309 fatalities. Mumbai is currently the worst-hit district in India, with a fatality rate of 5.26%
Mumbai: 1298 new cases
#CoronavirusUpdates
— माझी Mumbai, आपली BMC (@mybmc) June 18, 2020
18-June, 6:00pm#NaToCorona pic.twitter.com/d2Kp8ryLKO
BMC: 'No question of hiding data'
After embarrassed by the need to reconcile its data, adding 862 deaths to its COVID tally, the city's civic body BMC said there was no question of hiding fatality figures and claimed it has asked hospitals to inform it about casualties within 48 hours. Moreover, to aid people seeking availability of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds and ventilators in hospitals, the BMC has launched an app 'Air-Venti' to show real-time availability of these beds. According to BMC's War room report, 1163 of the 1215 ICU beds are occupied, while 699 of the 714 ventilators too are occupied. The BMC chief has said that over 300 ICU beds will be added soon, after the Centre pulled up the civic body.
Mumbai's COVID crisis
The BMC has increased its containment zones to 837, while over 5,316 buildings and chawls have been sealed and being self-managed by the society. While Dharavi is Mumbai's most densely populated area and has been under severe scrutiny - with 2134 cases and 78 deaths, recent BMC report shows Borivali as the most affected place with the doubling rate at 13 days. Overall, Mumbai's doubling rate at 30 days is higher than national average of 17.4 days.
Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray has clarified that the state government had not re-announced the lockdown and urged the people to follow the government guideline on safety and precautions against COVID-19. Moreover, the Railways has commenced plying local trains but only for the 'essential employees' - designated state govt employees and private healthcare workers, to take the burden off BEST buses which too have commenced. The state has also capped its COVID-19 tests and testing by collecting samples from home at Rs.2200 and Rs.2800 respectively.
23:08 IST, June 18th 2020