After 1382 new cases, Mumbai's COVID count swells to 25,317; 6751 patients in city recover

With 1382 novel coronavirus cases detected in Mumbai on Thursday, May 21, the city's COVID-19 tally soars to 25,317. This includes 142 patients who tested positive for COVID-19 in various labs between May 18-19. After 285 patients were discharged from the hospital in the day, the number of recovered surged to 6,751.

While 5,524 have been discharged from municipal hospitals, 1227 others have been discharged from private hospitals. 37% of the total patients belonging to the age group of 50 and above in Mumbai have been discharged so far. Moreover, 41 deaths were reported in Mumbai on Thursday, propelling the city's death toll to 882. 23 of the deceased patients had co-morbidities. 

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Fadnavis demands higher COVID-19 testing in Mumbai

Earlier, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis alleged that the Maha Vikas Aghadi government was making false claims about the level of COVID-19 testing in Maharashtra. He highlighted that Mumbai and Maharashtra had a positivity rate of 13.17% and 12.43% respectively as per the tests conducted till May 18, which was higher than the national average of 4.17%. According to him, the spread of COVID-19 was much more in Maharashtra in comparison to the rest of the country.

Noting that the positivity rate of Mumbai stands at around 22% if the repetitive tests of a single person are eliminated, he demanded the Uddhav Thackeray-led government to focus more on increasing the COVID-19 testing in Mumbai. For instance, he claimed that only 4,000-4,500 tests were being conducted in Mumbai despite having a capacity of 10,000 tests per day. Taking a further dig at the state government, he contended that the problem cannot be solved unless it is acknowledged. Currently, there are 41,642 confirmed novel coronavirus cases in Maharashtra out of which 11,726 patients have been discharged while 1,454 casualties have been reported. 

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Amid the growing number of COVID-19 cases, BMC Commissioner Iqbal Chahal directed civic officials to acquire at least 100 beds including 10 in ICUs of private nursing homes and small hospitals in all 24 wards of Mumbai. As per the BMC, this shall facilitate the availability of 2,400  more beds for COVID-19 patients. Chahal also asked the ward officers to file police complaints against polyclinics, nursing homes and private hospitals that had not opened.

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