1,540 new coronavirus cases in Mumbai, 97 deaths

Mumbai, June 11 () Over 1,500 new coronavirus cases and close to 100 deaths were reported in Mumbai on the second consecutive day on Thursday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said in a release.

1,540 new cases were reported in the city taking the tally of COVID-19 cases to 53,985 while the death toll reached 1,952 with 97 more deaths reported during the day.

Of 97 deaths, 43 deaths had occurred earlier, the BMC said.

516 patients were discharged from the hospitals in the past 24 hours, taking the number of discharged patients in the city to 24,209.

According to BMC, the city has now 27,824 active COVID-19 patients.

On Wednesday, 1,567 new COVID-19 cases and 97 deaths had been reported.

The BMC also informed in another release that seven unclaimed bodies are lying in the mortuary of civic-run KEM Hospital, but only one of them was lying there for more than three weeks.

The release quoted Mayor Kishori Pednekar as saying that the bodies were kept in mortuary as the deceased's relatives didn't come forward to claim these bodies.

The BMC cannot dispose of the bodies on its own due to some legal issues, and the municipal commissioner had assured that he would speak to the city police commissioner to find a solution to the problem, she said.

The civic body, meanwhile, has activated ward-level war rooms to deal with the issue of COVID-19 patients not getting hospital beds in emergency.

The BMC has activated decentralised hospital bed management system and formed war rooms at all 24 civic wards, it said.

Earlier helpline number 1916 had been provided for COVID-19 patients, but decentralised ward level war rooms will make it easier to provide them help, the BMC said.

Every war room has 30 telephone lines and those will be active 24x7. Medical officers and other required employees are deputed in three shifts.

As 1916 helpline was also used for other civic complaints, it was overburdened, the BMC said. KK KRK KRK