Tale of two tails in city: 12,557 cases in July against the 16,310 in January

So far this year, July appears to have been the best month as far as the Covid-19 pandemic is concerned — and, as the statistics show, more so for Mumbai than Maharashtra.

- Malathy Iyer & Bhavika Jain

The July caseload in the state — despite talk of the “thick tail” of the second Covid wave — is almost a third of the 6.57 lakh cases registered in March.

But it is Mumbai, a hot spot during both the Covid-19 waves, that had a low Covid scoreboard in July. The July tally (12,557) is lower than the January tally (16,310), which is now accepted as the period between the two Covid waves. At present, Mumbai’s daily tally and death count make up for about 5% of the state’s daily caseload and fatalities. On Saturday, the city tally of 345 accounted for 4.9% of Maharashtra’s tally of 6,959. Mumbai registered nine deaths, or 4% of the state’s Saturday toll of 225.