Mumbai: A recent report by the expert committee of doctors has revealed that 29% of coronavirus disease (Covid-19)-related deaths in Maharashtra have occurred within hours or on the same day of the admission of a patient, while many of the remaining deaths were reported within four days.

The high Covid-19 case fatality rate (CFR) in Maharashtra is attributed to poor healthcare infrastructure coupled with inadequate contact tracing, late referral, and a lacklustre implementation of the lockdown restrictions that were enforced from end-March to contain the spread of the contagion.

Maharashtra is ranked second to Gujarat as far as CFR is concerned at 3.45% against pan-India (2.01%).

The CFR is over 5% in Mumbai, Solapur, and Nandurbar. The state has reported over 50% of its total deaths in the last 35 days, as 8,935 Covid-19 patients have succumbed to their viral infection between July 6 and August 9.

The first case of viral infection was reported in the state on March 9 and five months on, 17,757 deaths were reported.

While 5,15,332 Covid-19 cases have been reported in Maharashtra to date.

“Many districts were not prepared for the surge in Covid-19 cases, despite advance warnings. In Jalgaon, Solapur, Satara, either the healthcare facilities, including the medical colleges, were not ramped up or were in an administrative mess. In Nagpur, the facilities were spruced up, but there was poor bed management such as asymptomatic Covid-19 patients were found to be occupying oxygen beds. Similarly, in some districts like Nandurbar, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test facility is not available. The test reports in these districts are available after three days and that lead to a high CFR,” said a health department official

An expert committee, appointed by the state government, has recommended steps to curb the spread of the viral outbreak.

Dr. Avinash Supe, former dean of Mumbai’s KEM Hospital and a member of the panel, said, “Late referrals make it difficult for doctors to treat Covid-19 patients. We have ramped up the infrastructure, and the CFR is likely to improve soon.”

State health minister Rajesh Tope, on Sunday, said that the focus is to reduce the CFR. He has also directed the district authorities to increase the contact tracing to 15 people for each Covid-19 patient in a bid to keep the spread of the pathogen in check.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had pointed out to high CFR in 10 districts during a review meeting with the district collectors and divisional commissioners.

Lav Agarwal, joint secretary, Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoH&FW), had also attended the meeting.

Dr. Sanjay Pattiwar, a public health consultant, said, “In many districts, we do not have crucial infrastructures such as intensive care units (ICUs), oxygen, and ventillators. Besides, there is a lack of trained manpower and medical expertise. These are the primary causes that are leading to high CFR.”