Maharashtra has witnessed a dramatic rise in the number of Coronavirus-related deaths, since the data reconciliation process began on May 17, reported The Times of India. Under this exercise, the Covid-19 patients who died over a week ago and not added to the total fatality count, are being recorded.
TOI reported that the Maharashtra government has so far added a total of 11,617 additional Covid-19 deaths to the list since the data tabulation exercise commenced over 3 weeks ago. This figure is higher than the 10,645 deaths which were recorded as the total daily count in the past 3 weeks. As such, the total death count in the State has reached a whopping 1,03,748.
The reconciliation exercise has thus witnessed an over 11% increase in Maharashtra’s Covid-19 death toll. About 8404 ‘old’ cases of Coronavirus deaths were added in the first 10 days of June while around 5410 deaths were found to be older than a week’s time. On Thursday (June 10) alone, about 1522 past deaths were added during the reconciliation exercise.
While speaking about the matter, Dr. Pradeep Awate stated, “Although we have asked districts to update death data within 48 hours, it is not always possible due to manpower crunch or technical problems.” Awate is the Head of the Epidemiology Cell of the Maharashtra Public Health Department. Of these ‘old’ deaths, 8,404 were added in the first 10 days of June, and 5,410 were older-than-a-week deaths. As of June 11, Maharashtra has reported a total of 1,63,586 active cases.
Covid-19 protocols flouted across Maharashtra
The state government has recently initiated a gradual ‘unlock’ in the state. However, such unlock has prompted people to violate the social-distancing norms heavily. Reports from Nashik, Nagpur and Mumbai showed how the Covid-19 protocols were being flouted across the state from the very first day of the ‘unlock.’ While the relaxation in restrictions would help unlock the economy, there appeared to be latency in measures to ensure the Covid-19 appropriate protocols were followed religiously across the state.
As per a Times Now report, a massive crowd was seen at the Mahatma Phule Market in Nagpur on June 9 morning with people flouting every single Covid-19 norm. People were spotted without proper masks and none maintained any social distancing. A similar scenario was observed in the city of Nashik. The streets of the city witnessed bumper-to-bumper traffic with buyers flocking the markets to buy garments and school supplies. While people were masked to avoid fines, social distancing norms went for a toss.
