MUMBAI: The Mumbai civic body has denied allegations of suppressing the COVID-19 death and infection figures and said it was recording the number of fatalities as per protocols laid down by the WHO and ICMR.
BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday accused the Shiv Sena-ruled Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) of under-reporting COVID-19 fatalities and "manipulating" the viral infection rate in the city.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the BMC said it was completely transparent in reporting the number of COVID-19 fatalities and cases, and in conducting the tests.
The civic body rejected the criticism that it was creating a false picture that the pandemic situation in Mumbai was being brought under control.
"The allegation is completely baseless and the BMC administration rejects it. The COVID-19 testing and recording of deaths due to the infection were being done as per the criteria laid down by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)," it said.
The BMC said the civic administration was committed towards "mission zero", which aims to bring the COVID-19 situation under control step-by-step.
In a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Fadnavis had said the BMC was attributing the deaths of some COVID-19 patients to 'other reasons' and thus, suppressing the real toll of the viral infection.
The leader of opposition in Maharashtra Assembly had also alleged that the BMC was manipulating the infection rate by relying more on Rapid Antigen Tests.
Notably, the Supreme Court recently praised the BMC for managing the second wave of COVID-19 efficiently.
With the addition of 2,403 cases on Sunday, Mumbai's COVID-19 tally rose to 6,76,475, while 68 deaths pushed the toll to 13,817, an official said.
It was the second consecutive day that the country's financial capital saw a daily addition of less than 3,000 cases.
A total of 3,375 people were discharged during the day, raising the overall recovery count in Mumbai to 6,13,418, as per official figures.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra on Sunday reported 48,401 fresh coronavirus positive cases and 572 fatalities, taking the tally to 51,01,737 and the toll to 75,849, the state health department said.
At 48,401, the number of new cases in a day fell below 50,000 for the first time after April 5 this year, when the state had recorded 47,288 infections.
A total of 60,226 patients were discharged during the day, taking the count of recoveries so far in Maharashtra to 44,07,818, the department said in a release.
Of the 572 fatalities, 310 had occurred in the last 48 hours, it said.
The case recovery rate in Maharashtra now stands at 86.4 per cent while the case fatality rate is1.49 per cent, as per the department.
Maharashtra is now left with 6,15,783 active cases.
With 2,47,466 new tests, the number of samples tested so far in Maharashtra reached 2,94,38,797.
Mumbai reported 2,395 cases and 68 deaths during the day, taking the tally of infections to 6,75,630 and the toll to 13,781, the department said.
The Mumbai division, comprising the city and satellite towns, reported 6,985 new casesand 157 deaths, raising the number of infections to 14,46,904 and the fatality count to 24,731.
Nashik division reported 7,467 fresh cases, Pune division 11,807, Kolhapur division 5,402, Aurangabad division 2,146, Latur division 3,136, Akola division 4,137, and Nagpur division 7,321, the department said.
Tally of coronavirus cases in Maharashtra: Positive cases 51,01,737, deaths 75,849, recoveries44,07,818, active 6,15,783, total tests 2,94,38,797, tests today 2,47,466.
Currently, 36,96,896 patients are in the home quarantine in Maharashtra whille 26,939 patients remain admitted in the institutional quarantine.