Covid deaths in Maharashtra dip from 667 to 386 in 1st 15 days of November

With 19 deaths reported in Maharashtra on Monday, November 15, the first fortnight of the month witnessed a decline of 57% in the fatalities as compared to the corresponding period in October.

The state has recorded 386 deaths in the past 15 days as compared to 667 fatalities during the first 15 days of October. Despite the festival season, cases and deaths have declined this month.

Maharashtra’s Covid-19 toll since March 2020 stands at 140,602, while its case tally surged to 6,624,986 after 686 new infections were reported.

Pune has recorded the most number of deaths – 19,644 – followed by Mumbai (16,296) and Thane (11,521).

State surveillance officer Dr Pradeep Awate attributed the decline in the deaths to the low case count.

“The deaths are directly correlated to the number of new cases, and the decline in the daily caseload has resulted in the reduction in fatalities. This is the natural course of the pandemic and it is now coming down after reaching its peak,” he said.

Between November 1 and 15, the state reported 14,038 cases, way below the 36,434 infections recorded during the same period in October. The state has witnessed 38.52% decline in the number of new cases recorded in the first 15 days of the month.

Dr Ishwar Gilada, secretary-general, Organised Medicine Academic Guild, said that vaccination has played a major role in the declining number of deaths. “Vaccination has blunted the Covid-19 virus and we are seeing less severity, which has resulted in lower hospitalisation. This has also helped in reducing the deaths. As many people have been infected, they have developed antibodies and in turn, herd immunity has been developed,” he added.

Meanwhile, Mumbai reported 182 new cases and four deaths, taking its case tally to 760,511.

The state reported positivity rate of 0.84% on Monday as 686 of the 81,631 tests were positive. Maharashtra also clocked 912 recoveries on Monday.