Sangli, Latur record 100%; state lags at 13.9 per cent

Till Wednesday, 734 coronavirus cases were recorded by Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) – the first case was reported by it on March 9. Of them 134 have been discharged till now from isolation centres. In Mumbai, which recorded its first case on March 11, the number of patients has gone up to 3,683, of whom 483 have been discharged till Wednesday night. According to Dr Daksha Shah, deputy executive health officer, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, each patient who tests negative twice in a gap of 24 hours is considered recovered and is discharged from hospital. In state, confirmed COVID-19 patients undergo a test every alternate day to assess their viral load.

In Sangli, where all 26 infected patients were discharged, only one senior citizen with diabetes had required close monitoring. District officials said the other patients had mild or no symptoms and were only kept in isolation until they tested negative.

In Latur, all eight infected patients were natives of Telangana. “All of them were stable with mild symptoms. Recovery was easy,” said state epidemiologist Dr Pradeep Awate.

In Pimpri-Chinchwad, where 54 cases have been recorded so far, a recovery rate of 34 per cent has been observed, the state report stated. The district has recorded only two deaths to Covid-19. “We focussed on early testing and hospitalisation. Several with early signs of infection were tested, and treatment could be started early,” said Dr Pawan Salve, additional medical officer, Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation.

The district noticed several cases in beginning of March, but has managed to trace contacts of the infected persons and control the disease transmission.

In other districts with significant COVID-19 cases, the rate of recovery has remained slow. In Vasai-Virar, 6.9 per cent of 115 infected have been discharged, while in Thane only 3 per cent of 166 infected have recovered. Of 101 people infected in Navi Mumbai, only 9.9 per cent have recovered and discharged. In Nagpur, 12 per cent of 97 people infected have been discharged.

The data shows that Malegaon has recorded 94 cases, all in last one week. “Recovery will take time. When the spike came, it came suddenly and several were infected at once,” said epidemiologist Awate. The district has recorded nine deaths, but not a single patient has recovered so far. Though the numbers are small to compare, but Malegaon’s mortality rate is double the state’s mortality rate at 4.7 per cent, Awate said, adding that the deceased also had some comorbidities.

The state government report on 3,525 patients, currently admitted to hospitals, has also found that at least 83 per cent of patients are asymptomatic. These patients will require regular testing for viral load. About two per cent who are critical, require intensive care, while the rest with mild symptoms can be clinically managed with treatment.