'No advantage in twisting COVID-19 figures; double tests in Mumbai': Fadnavis to CM Uddhav

Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday wrote to CM Uddhav Thackeray flagging concerns about the COVID-19 situation in Mumbai. First, he pointed out that the percentage of tests done in Mumbai among the overall tests conducted in Maharashtra had witnessed a steep fall from 56% on May 1 to 27% on May 31. According to him, this was disturbing as the COVID-19 spread in Mumbai was the highest. He also questioned the steady rise in Maharashtra's death toll and cited reports that the words 'COVID-19' and 'suspected COVID-19' had been purged from many deceased's death certificates.

Fadnavis reckoned that people attending the final rites of such individuals were susceptible to the novel coronavirus. The BJP leader maintained that it was necessary to at least double the number of tests as 32% of the samples in Mumbai from May 1 to May 24 had tested positive for COVID-19. He reiterated that the BMC was conducting only 3500-4000 tests daily in Mumbai despite having a capacity of 10,000 tests. Taking a jibe at Thackeray, Fadnavis remarked that no advantage would be gained by twisting the COVID-19 figures. At present, 43,492 COVID-19 cases and 1417 casualties have been reported in Mumbai.

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74860 COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra

After 2560 novel coronavirus cases were detected in Maharashtra on Wednesday, June 3, the state's COVID-19 tally climbed to 74,860. There are 39,935 active COVID-19 cases in the state at present. 996 patients were discharged in the day taking the total number of recovered to 32,329. 122 deaths- 49 from Mumbai, 19 from Pune, 16 from Aurangabad, 10 from Solapur, 4 from Dhule, three each from Ulhasnagar and Navi Mumbai, two each from Thane, Jalgaon, Kolhapur, Akola and one each from Mira Bhayandar, Vasai-Virar, Bhiwandi, Osmanabad, Jalna, West Bengal, UP and Bihar were reported on Wednesday, propelling the state's death toll to 2587.

88 of the aforesaid deceased persons had high-risk co-morbidities such as hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, etc. The Maharashtra Public Health Department argued that the rate of COVID-19 spread in the state was reducing. It cited that the state had recorded a COVID-19 growth rate of 4.15% in comparison to the national average of 4.74%. The patient doubling rate in the state has increased to 17.35 days. 

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