Covid-19: Maharashtra task force aims to bring CFR down to 1%

Grappling with its high case fatality rate (CFR), or the number of deaths as against the number of people who have tested positive for Covid-19, Maharashtra is working towards bringing it down to 1% in another month’s time.

Dr Shashank Joshi, member of the state’s Covid task force appointed for clinical management of patients, the state’s newly launched campaign of ‘My family, My responsibility’ aims for early detection and treatment.

“We still have a CFR lower than most countries but the existing numbers are mainly owing to a large number of co-morbid patients. The fatality rate has been dropping in the last few months and we aim to bring it down to 1%,” Joshi said.

Also read: India crosses 82 million Covid-19 tests in 9 months

In a press briefing this week, the Centre’s health department stated that 48% of the Covid-19 deaths in the country have been reported in 25 districts of eight states, and 15 of these districts are in Maharashtra. The health ministry added that it is working to bring down the CFR in these districts.

As on Wednesday, Maharashtra is in the second place in the national chart after Punjab in CFR. While Punjab has a CRF of 3.07%, the state’s mortality rate is 2.64% followed by Gujarat at 2.42%.

On Wednesday, the state reported 14,578 fresh cases and 355 fatalities, taking its total count to 148,489 cases and 39,072 fatalities. A month ago, Maharashtra and Punjab had a CFR of 2.93% and Gujarat was at the top of the list at 2.98%. In August, however, Maharashtra had a CFR of 3.5%, while Gujarat was at the top of the list at 3.82%.

Though the state has brought down the CFR, it continues to be higher than the national average of 1.55% as on October 7 and hovering near the world average of 2.94% on Wednesday, as per the data shared by the state’s medical education and drugs department. Officials say that a weak health infrastructure and lack of contact tracing can be few of the reasons for the high CFR but it has been consistently falling.

Source: Read Full Article