Stats from India's 'serious' cities - Mumbai, Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata

A day after the Union government stated the COVID-19 situation is “especially serious” in cities like Mumbai, Pune, Indore, Jaipur, and Kolkata, here’s a glimpse of the ground scenario in these major Indian cities as on Tuesday (April 21).

Mumbai: As many as 355 new coronavirus cases were reported in Mumbai on Tuesday while 12 patients died due to the pandemic, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said. With this, the tally of coronavirus cases in the city rose to 3,445 while the death toll stood at 150, the civic body said.

As per the BMC release, of the 355 new cases, 219 were those which came to light during testing at various laboratories between April 14 and 18. The financial capital of the country now has 2,887 active coronavirus cases, while 244 new suspected patients have been admitted to hospitals, it added.

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Meanwhile, the number of coronavirus cases across Maharashtra rose to 5,218 with 552 new patients being detected on Tuesday, a health official said. The state reported 19 deaths during the day, which took the death toll due to the pandemic in the state to 251, he said. Of these, three deaths were reported in Pune on Tuesday, besides two in Thane and one each in Sangli and Pimpri Chinchwad.

Of the 355 new cases, Mumbai’s Dharavi slum on Tuesday reported 12 new COVID-19 cases with one death, a senior BMC official said. With this, the total number of the coronavirus-afflicted people in this congested locality reached 180. The number of the deceased has gone up to 12, the official said.

Jaipur: Of the total 83 fresh cases reported in Rajasthan on Tuesday, a whopping 63 were from Jaipur. The Pink City also accounted for 13 of the total 25 deaths reported across the state, according to official figures. A total of 1,659 cases of the virus have been reported in the state so far.

Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Rohit Kumar Singh said test results of the 4,000 samples, sent to a private lab in Delhi, have started coming and these are being captured in the report. Hence, the number of cases is expected to rise.

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Of the 83 cases, 63 were from Jaipur, five from Jodhpur, four from Bhilwara, two each from Kota, Tonk, Dausa and Jaisalmer, and one each from Swai Madhopur, Nagaur and Jhunjhunu. He said 327 patients have tested negative for the infection and after treatment, 97 have been discharged from hospitals.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Rajasthan includes two Italian citizens and 61 people brought from Iran. The state is under lockdown since March 22 and a massive survey and screening is underway to track the people infected with the virus.

Indore: With 18 more people testing positive for the novel coronavirus in the last 24 hours ending on Tuesday, the number of COVID-19 cases in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore district has gone up to 915, while the death toll stood at 52 so far, officials said.

Indore’s Chief Medical and Health Officer Pravin Jadia said while 52 people have died of COVID-19 in Indore while 71 others have been discharged from hospitals so far after recovery.

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As per a government analysis, the death rate of COVID-19 patients in Indore district, as on Tuesday morning, was 5.68 per cent. Officials have been maintaining that the death rate has been higher than the national average in the last several days.

Meanwhile, officials said the visiting central team has emphasised the need to undertake coordinated efforts by various departments to tackle the coronavirus outbreak in the district. In view of surge in COVID-19 cases, a curfew was imposed within the urban borders of Indore on March 25.

West Bengal: Three more COVID-19 deaths were reported in West Bengal, taking the toll in the state to 15, Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha said on Tuesday. In the last 24 hours, 29 new cases were reported, taking the total number of active cases to 274, he said. Individual figures for Kolkata was not available.

During this period, no COVID-19 patient was discharged in the state, he said, adding 713 samples were tested in the last 24 hours. The total number of people infected by the contagion in West Bengal is 359, according to state authorities, while the figure mentioned in Union health ministry website is 392.

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Meanwhile, most parts of the state’s Hooghly district were declared as COVID-19 containment zones by the state government, a senior official said. Though there have not been many cases in the district, we are imposing the restrictions as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of the virus.

Nobody will be allowed to go out, and nobody will be allowed to come in, a senior official of the Hooghly district administration told PTI. Any office, whether that of the government or a private entity, has been prohibited from opening in these areas which are affected or susceptible to be infected, the order said.

(With inputs from agencies)