A death audit committee appointed by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has said that the relatively high COVID-19 fatality rate of 5.1 per cent in the city is mostly due to delay in hospitalisation. The committee also said that around 31 per cent of the deaths occur within 24 hours of admission. It’s worth pointing out that Mumbai’s fatality rate is worse than Maharashtra’s which presently stands at 3 per cent.
Elaborating further on the correlation between delay in hospitalisation and COVID-19 fatalities, the committee said that among the 5,200 deaths analysed in the city, around 59 per cent died within four days of being hospitalized, while 1,615 died within 24 hours of admission.
Dr. Avinash Supe who is in charge of the death audit committee said - “There are two sets of people. First, who avoid symptoms considering it as a general seasonal flu and take medicines over the counter, which deteriorates their condition. Second, are those who despite having underlying health issues try to hide the infection which delays the hospitalisation.”
As of September 2, 7,724 people have lost their lives due to the COVID-19 infection in Mumbai. Understandably, no one ward under the BMC’s periphery reports the same level of mortality rates due to a variety of factors. As per the information currently available, Kurla, Andheri Sakinaka and Powai (L Ward) have the highest mortality rate at 7.44 per cent. At second place is B Ward with a fatality rate of 7.37 per cent.
Also Read - Malad Hospital Charges A Patient ₹21 Lakhs For COVID-19 Treatment
Additional Municipal Commissioner of the BMC, Suresh Kakani said - “Patient-wise data is being collected for analysis of the death audit committee. We check if the patient was refused admission by other hospitals, or there was a delay in detection of the virus. This data is maintained ward-wise, which also helps us understand why certain wards report higher fatality rates.”
Meanwhile, some have voiced concerns regarding the shortage of essential life-saving drugs like Tocilizumab and Remdesivir. An epidemiologist from the city said that the situation isn’t as dire now as it was in July, though some families are still facing trouble acquiring some of these medications.
Also read - Maharashtra Government To Continue 80 Per Cent Bed Reservation In Private Hospitals
Share
Tweet
